Date: 2018-06-29 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Fiction
Description: Pirate Raiders, a Missing Heir, and a High Seas LitRPG Swashbuckler Cari Dix is tired of playing by the rules. Let everyone else race to rescue the fate of an Empire. She chooses a return to the high seas and her raider ship, the Vengeance. Then Cari discovers a secret that could change the world and once again save the heir to the Crystal Throne. The chase is on for Raider Captain Cari Dix. Her parents, Hal and Mona, follow along behind, trying to catch up to their daughter, lost in the game of Fantasma. Come along for book 2 in this real-life swashbuckling romp of a lifetime, returning to th

Accidental Raider

Book 2 in a LitRPG Swashbuckler Trilogy

Jamie Davis

Christopher Davis

MedicCast Productions

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Epilogue

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About the Author

Copyright © 2018 Jamie Davis

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

The authors greatly appreciate you taking the time to read their work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help them spread the word.

Thank you for supporting their work.

Cover art by CoversByChristian.com

Created with Vellum

To the young women reading this book and dreaming they can be just like Cari — Yes, you can!

Jamie Davis

To the strong women in my life who support all of my crazy ideas.

C. J. Davis

Prologue

“Hal, hurry up,” Mona said from behind him. “Who knows how long Cari has been in there.”

Hal tapped at the old mechanical keyboard, attempting to force the game program “Fantasma” to restart.

“I’m trying Mona, the program isn’t responding and now the OS is hung,” Hal responded. “I’m going as fast as this old hardware can handle.”

Hal had lovingly restored his old computer with Cari 10 years ago as a fun “father-daughter” activity. He had a soft spot for this machine and often complained about newer technologies to his wife, Mona, but he definitely didn’t miss the slow load times and crashes that came with the old hardware.

Mona paced behind him. She had already changed into her old hunting outfit, including black leather pants, knee-high boots, a black silk blouse and forest green woolen coat. She had her repeating crossbow slung across her back and what he liked to call her utility belt, with its myriad of pouches, wrapped around her waist. The whole ensemble still fit her very well even after fourteen years.

“Mona, it’s going as fast as it can. The system has to reboot. There appears to have been some sort of forced update to the game.”

“Update? I thought that archaic machine was too old to connect to the net anymore.”

“It shouldn’t be able to download anything, but an update was loaded somehow. A new Fantasma game file with additional DLC packs are now installed. I didn’t put them there. I have no idea where they came from. No one except me should have access to anything on this particular computer.”

“That means the update came from the other side,” Mona said. “It must be Tildi or another mage accessing the system. When I get my hands on who did this, I’ll make sure they never interfere in our lives again.”

“If it had been Tildi, she would have sent word to me directly, not activated the system this way. It’s as if the whole thing was automated somehow to update at some future time and place.”

“Did you call Colin? Maybe he knows what’s going on. You know he still checks in on things via that store of his.”

“I tried him first of all. I got his holomail outgoing message. It says he’s out of town until next week. I don’t know why it didn’t forward to his personal comm, but I left a message anyway. Hopefully, he gets it. I haven’t talked to him in years, but I hoped he’d know who’d run the update sequence from the other side.”

Mona stopped her pacing and stared at the old flat screen monitor. It went black and then a prompt appeared. Hal entered his password and hit enter. The startup sequence began.

“How much longer?” Mona asked. “You know the time differential is chaotic. We’ve been gone all weekend here. If she’s been there the whole time, she could have been there weeks or even months. Anything could have happened to her by now.”

“I checked her closet; her favorite sword and dagger are missing. I think she must have been geared up for the Ren Faire when it caught her.”

Hal had long ago upgraded the program to allow portal travelers to Fantasma carry clothes and items back and forth. He remembered his first time there when he’d showed up in peasant rags and nothing else.

“Watch the screen, Mona. Call me when Fantasma boots up. I need to get geared up, too.”

His wife nodded and resumed her pacing in front of the desk. Hal left the office and rushed to his bedroom. The antique wooden chest at the foot of their bed was open. Mona had scattered a lot of his stuff around it while digging for the things she needed.

Hal put on a black leather jerkin and pants. Pulled on polished leather boots and wrapped the black cape across his shoulders, attaching the clasps to hold it in place. He pulled his two daggers from the bottom of the chest and slid them into their scabbards on his belt. He attached the double four-pack of throwing knives to the leather baldric hanging diagonally across his chest.

He stood and twisted from side to side then took a few steps. The pants were a little tighter than he remembered and the jerkin had been hard to slip on, but his gear still fit pretty well, considering how long it had been. Hal knew he could buy new clothes and equipment once he got to Fantasma. He made a final check of the contents of the chest but didn’t see anything he’d need beyond what he already had.

Joining Mona in the office again, he watched as the computer finished loading Fantasma. Mona reached out and tapped several times, cycling through the initial prompts so she could get to the final load screen.

Are you sure you wish to enter Fantasma?

Press enter to continue.

“Yes, dammit,” Mona hissed at the inanimate object. “You stole my daughter.”

She stabbed her index finger down on the enter key before Hal could stop her. He’d wanted to have a plan in place before they left. Now it was too late.

The familiar flashes of color on the screen drew his eyes until he couldn’t look away. Hal didn’t resist, he let the colors pull him in. Soon, he felt the sensation of falling backward into the blackness. The wave of darkness washed over him. The world around him disappeared. Hal’s final thought as he lost consciousness was of his daughter.

“Hang on Cari. We’re coming for you.”

Chapter 1

Cari Dix reached up and traced the faint lines of the scars on her face. The mirror in her cabin had been a gift from her crew after they’d taken out their fifth raider ship. While it was nice to see her reflection again after so long, it was bittersweet.

She’d changed since she’d come to this place nearly a year before. The battle scars were just part of it.

The healing potions and spells from the temple priests had done their work. They made her well again after her injuries following the Crown Prince’s rescue. That fight had nearly killed her.

Despite the magic, though, nothing healed perfectly, and there were always scars. Inside and out.

“Mom would be so pissed.”

“What was that, Cap’n?” Percy asked.

The ship’s cabin boy stood ready by the door with her cloak in his hands, waiting for her to head up onto the main deck of her ship, the Vengeance.

“Nothing, Percy. I was just talking to myself. What was the report on the ship the lookout spotted? Is it the one we’ve been chasing all these weeks?”

“We’re still a bit far off, ma’am. Mr. Bowcott thinks it might be the ship we’re after, but he can’t be sure until we get closer.”

“I guess I’d better head up to the quarterdeck and have a look for myself, then. Lead on, Mr. McShea.”

Percy led the way up onto the main deck then waited at the foot of the starboard ladder. Cari nodded and climbed up to the quarterdeck to join her first mate and the rest of the command crew. She peered out at the horizon and spotted the speck of sail that was the ship they chased.

“My spyglass please,” she said, holding out her hand.

Percy slapped the leather-wrapped brass cylinder into her palm. Cari took the telescope, extended it to its full three-foot length, and scanned the horizon line until she found the other ship. It leaped into focus and she stared at the image, watching the scurry of activity on the opposing ship’s main deck.

Lifting the glass to scan the sails on their quarry, Cari spotted the black and red checkered flag flying from the foretopmast. It was a raider ship, probably the one they were looking for. There’d been a ship raiding merchantmen and farming communities up and down this stretch of coast for weeks.

“She’s a big one. Mr. Bowcott, how many guns do you think she has?”

“Lieutenants Claridge and Dumont were just discussing that with me, Cap’n,” the first mate said, indicating the two dashing young men standing behind him. “We figure if she’s armed based on her size, she could have as many as thirty-six cannons, say fifteen or sixteen to a broadside, with maybe a stern and bow chaser or two.”

“That outguns our twenty-four guns, but not by too much. Let’s see if they can outrange us. What say you, Stefan?”

Lieutenant Stefan Claridge, late of the Duke of Tandon’s personal guard, was now the Vengeance’s primary gunnery officer. He grinned in response to her question.

“We’ve got the new rifled guns you designed, ma’am. That gives us the range and accuracy advantage. We can rake their decks and sides without taking a shot in return, I’m sure of it.”

“You can do all the damage you want with those popguns of yours, Stefan,” Lieutenant Rodrigo Dumont laughed. “It always comes down to my boarding crew and me to make the final assault. We’ve got their number. Once we come alongside, I could lead the attack with just a dagger. I wouldn’t even need my sword or pistols.”

“Care to make a wager on that?” Stefan prodded his counterpart.

Cari rolled her eyes. The two of them consistently had one bet or another in play. They competed with each other over everything, but most of their wagers seemed focused on who could outdo the other in some feat of strength or combat.

She knew she should have nipped this in the bud earlier when the competition first started, but it had amused her at first and seemed harmless enough. The stakes had risen lately though, and Rodrigo’s intention to board a Raider ship armed only with a dagger was foolish and dangerous.

“Don’t make me leave the Vengeance to come and save your butt, Mr. Dumont. I’d reconsider your wager before we close with the raider ship.”

Rodrigo didn’t answer her. She let it slide. Cari had learned never to give a direct order that wasn’t going to be obeyed. She’d have to find another way to motivate the two of them to stop this incessant competition with each other.

“Mr. Bowcott,” Cari said. “How long until we catch up with them?”

“That depends, ma’am. They’ve got a lot of sail aloft. Right now we’re a little faster, and we have the wind and the angle to catch them eventually. It might be after dark, though.”

“That is not going to do, Mr. Bowcott. I don’t want to lose them in the darkness. We can’t afford to let them get away again. They’ve been raping and pillaging their way up and down the coast. Nearly every small village and farmstead has been hit along the region of the eastern sea. They’ve taken dozens of prisoners. We have to rescue them before they’re sold to a slaver.”

“Yes, ma’am. Should I have the bosun run up our colors while you take the helm and see if you can shorten the chase?”

Cari realized the crew thought her ship handling skills close to witchcraft. She couldn’t explain to them how her ability to game things here in Fantasma had given her the ability to do many things that would seem impossible to another person.

She nodded. “Run up the colors. Let them know the Dread Raider Cari is on their tail.”

The bosun, Mr. Dawkins, smiled as he pulled out their version of the red and black checkered flag. In addition to the checkered raider pattern on the cloth, Cari had them add crossed cutlasses on it to add her own personal touch. That flag had become known throughout these waters in recent months as one to be feared by other raiders and welcomed by the common folk along the coast.

Cari took the wheel from the helmsman and engaged her seamanship and navigation abilities. She’d reached level two in each skill, so they allowed her to gauge their progress in the chase. Accessing the navigation overlays, she could view potential options that would alter the outcome.

Glancing aloft Cari picked out translucent, glowing vector lines shaded in yellows and green. The green lines represented the optimal wind direction based on her current sail pattern. The yellow were neutral, and if there had been red lines, they would represent winds against their current heading.

She shifted her gaze to the sea ahead of them, this time concentrating on similar blue and purple vector lines overlaying the choppy waters ahead of her. The lines represented the sea’s currents and eddies of various strengths, all of which could either hinder or assist them in their chase of the other ship.

Cari considered the combination of the wind behind them and the sea currents before them while plotting a course in her mind. The course showed up as a glowing golden line leading from the bow of the Vengeance to the raider ship in the distance. As she pulled all three facets of her ability together, the pattern shifted, leading her towards a deep, royal blue current line to starboard. She altered the plotted course in her mind to that heading. Immediately, the golden line grew thicker and glowed brighter than before.

That was the correct course.

She swung the ship in an arc that carried it into the fast current parallel to their previous course. As the Vengeance slid into the new course she’d laid out, the combination of the optimal current and the most favorable wind direction above grabbed the ship and propelled it forward at an even higher speed. The bow of the Vengeance knifed through the water in a smooth up and down motion as the ocean current caught them.

Navigation bonus — Ship’s speed boosted 25 percent.

Mr. Bowcott laughed and pointed as the other ship started to lose ground while the Vengeance raced to catch up.

“I don’t know how you do it, ma’am. The bosun and I’d love to know the secret if you’d like to teach it to us.”

“I’m not sure it’s something I can teach you, Mr. Bowcott. It’s just sort of something I can see when I’m at the helm or down in my cabin looking at the charts.”

“Well, however you do it, Cap’n, I’m glad you’re on our side.”

Cari gauged the closing speed now and glanced at the sun moving in its arc towards the western horizon. Guessing at the amount of daylight they had left, she smiled. They should overhaul the ship in front of them with enough daylight left to either fight them or accept their surrender.

“I’ll be in my cabin, Mr. Bowcott. You have the helm. I think we’ll catch them in about an hour and a half. Come get me when we’re just outside the range of our forward chasers.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’ll be sure to send Mr. McShea down to fetch you in plenty of time. We wouldn’t want you to miss the fun.”

As she left the quarterdeck, Cari noticed Stefan and Rodrigo with their heads together, talking in earnest about something. Part of her wanted to go over and ask them what they were up to now. She would likely find out soon enough, knowing those two.

A little healthy competition between the two had been healthy for the crew. It generated camaraderie, and she’d seen the results as their port and starboard gunnery teams competed to see who was most accurate. The boarding party teams compared their results in raiders killed and prisoners freed with each engagement.

She shook her head as she entered the passage back to her cabin at the stern beneath the quarterdeck. A little competition was good but, sooner or later, those two were going to go too far. Cari knew the two of them vied for her attention. She doubted they understood what kind of attention they got.

She didn’t know what they expected. This was no time for a romantic encounter, at least not a lasting one and she wasn’t the type to engage in a one-night stand, especially when it would cause bad blood between herself and the one she chose, not to mention the tension it would generate between two elements of her crew.

It wasn’t like she didn’t think they were both attractive. They both had their good points, and they were definitely easy on the eyes, especially in their dashing new raider garb. Stefan, in addition to a smart navy-blue coat with a double row of brass buttons, had taken to wearing a matching wide-brimmed hat with both sides pinned up to the crown. He had also put a long, colorful feather in it that drew the eye whenever he passed by.

Stefan usually stripped to the waist when helping to man the guns during an engagement. With his uniform coat and shirt off, he blended in with the other tanned bodies, male and female, doing the hot work of gunnery in this tropical climate. The feather in his hat made it easier for her to pick him out of the crowd when she needed to shout an order down to him or send Percy after him with a message during combat.

Rodrigo had adopted gear matching his duties as the leader of the Vengeance’s boarding parties. He’d tried a hat much like Stefan’s at first, along with a matching navy-blue uniform coat, but the hat blew off his head the first time he leaped across to attack a neighboring vessel. Since then, he’d taken to wearing a rolled red kerchief tied tight around his brow as a headband to keep the sweat from his eyes in a fight.

Cari let out a laugh as she thought about the two men and their constant competition for her affections. Her friend Stella wouldn’t believe a word of this if Cari could somehow send her a chat message with a picture of the two of them in their pirate garb.

Stella had always thought Cari did too much to scare boys away and thought she should just pick one already and have some fun. Someday she’d go back home and leave Fantasma. Eventually, she’d share her adventures with her friends. Maybe they’d even believe her.

She sat down at the desk in her cabin and pulled the ship’s log over to make the day’s entry of their position and add a note on the pending engagement with the raider ship. Cari found it suited her best to keep herself busy with routine work leading up to a fight. It kept her mind off the faces of all those she’d faced in combat before.

Cari paused as she thought of her previous battles. She no longer got nauseous in the aftermath of a fight, which was good. Part of her wondered, though, if that was a good thing or not.

Shrugging off the worry, Cari went back to her log entry and waited for Percy to come and fetch her for the coming battle.

Chapter 2

“Fire two shots, Mr. Claridge. Aim to cross their bow. Let’s see if they wish to surrender or not.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Stefan said. He’d stripped off his coat and shirt for the coming fight and he ran forward to see to the two longer cannon that were their bow chasers facing forward.

Quest accepted — secure the surrender of the raider ship

“I still don’t see why you offer them the option, Cap’n?” Percy asked from beside her.

“Because they are pawns in this fight for the future of the Empire, Mr. McShea. The Duke of Charon, in his quest for control of the Crystal Throne, has blackmailed these captains into working for him. Those that surrender deserve the right to return to honest shipping. That’s why, when they do surrender, we spike their guns and dump them along with all their weapons overboard. Then I give them their ships back and their lives, too, under the condition that if I catch them at raiding again, they die.”

“Not many surrender, ma’am. Only three that I can remember.”

“I hope that as the word spreads of what I offer them, more will take me up on it. Until then, we’ll fight the ones who want a fight, take the surrender of the few who don’t, and free as many captives as we can.”

A double boom sounded forward as a blast of smoke and fire propelled the two cannon balls in an arc passing just in front of the raider ship. They splashed down into the waves and Cari waited for the other captain’s response. Her warning shot had been clear.

She saw the belch of dark gray smoke from the rear of the raider before she heard the sound of the cannons. The two shots fell well short of their bow. Cari’s innovation of rifling the barrels of her cannon gave them a distinct range and accuracy advantage over their opponents.

It was foolish of the other captain to show his hand with a futile shot at the out of range Vengeance. Now Cari could target the other ship with her more accurate guns first and get a few broadsides off before she heaved to and brought the two vessels close enough to send the boarding parties to rescue the captives.

Cari motioned for the helmsman to turn a bit to starboard and bring the port broadside to bear on the other ship. Stefan raced back from the bow to oversee his gunnery crews as they prepared for the imminent broadside.

She raised her voice over the whistle of the wind and crash of the waves. “Fire as your guns bear, Mr. Claridge.”

Stefan turned and lifted both hands in a thumbs-up gesture accompanied by a huge, toothy grin. It was strange to see him or anyone in Fantasma use the gesture. He’d learned it from her at some point in the last eight months together. Now he did it all the time. It was catching on with the crew, too.

It could have been worse. At least she hadn’t taught the people here how to do the wave at spectator events.

The ripple of fire poured out from the Vengeance’s broadside as each gun fired in rapid succession. At this range, Stefan’s crews had loaded standard cannon balls and she tracked their flight as the sailed through the air at their target.

She brought up her spyglass at the last instant to see the damage to the distant vessel. Four of the ten cannonballs from the broadside struck home in the stern of the other ship. As she watched the splinters of wood fly from the impacts of her shots, the other ship’s rudder swung suddenly to one side. Cari whooped out loud.

“Excellent work, Mr. Claridge. You disabled her rudder. Without steering, they’ll be dead in the water soon unless they can repair it.”

A cheer went up from the port side gun crews. Several reached their hands high and gave each other high-fives, another gesture the crew had learned from their captain. Stefan had already moved to the starboard side and stood by the line of guns watching Cari.

She nodded and turned to the man at the ship’s wheel. There was nothing wrong with the Vengeance’s rudder.

“Helmsman, bring us around to port. Let’s send them a second broadside to make sure the repair party keeps their heads down and away from that rudder. Fire as your guns bear, Mr. Claridge.”

Her order was met with another double thumbs-up, and he moved to the first gun in the line and leaned over to sight down the barrel. All along the starboard side, the gunners bent down and did the same, the burning matches held ready to light the gunpowder charge in the touch hole of each cannon.

Again, the rolling thunder sounded from each individual gun firing in rapid succession. They were a little closer this time. The raider ship had started to turn in their direction as the wind and currents pushed the rudderless ship around.

All ten cannonballs struck home along the other ship’s broadside sending more wood and metal crashing into the men crouched behind the ship’s rails for cover.

This time, there was a return broadside from the other ship as the gun ports of the lower deck were opened to let the second row of cannons fire and join the guns of the main deck.

Mr. Bowcott’s earlier estimate had been correct. Cari counted eighteen guns in the larger ship’s broadside. Most of the raider guns fired early and the cannon balls missed wide across the bow.

Six of the shots managed to hit, though, and Cari saw two of her cannon’s blown backward as the other ship’s cannonballs struck home on the Vengeance and blew two gaps in her starboard rail.

Cari winced as men and women were knocked backward from their positions at the guns. Members of the waiting boarding parties leaped into action under Rodrigo’s orders to carry the wounded below accompanied by Helen and her surgeons.

That woman was the closest thing they had to a real healing priest or mage. Her herbal cures were good for most common ailments and she could stitch up wounds as well as anyone.

She also kept stock of the ship’s healing potions and would parcel them out to the most severely wounded. The woman had a remarkable track record and they rarely lost more than one or two members of the crew once they reached her care below decks.

Of course, too many died before they ever got there. Cari counted three bodies that would never rise again. She steeled herself against the feeling swirling beneath the surface. It was her commands that brought these people into harm’s way, after all.

Stefan already worked with his remaining gunners to right the two guns that had been knocked over in the blast. They managed to load them and roll them back into position in time to join the other eight guns in a single massed broadside at much closer range this time. Cari nodded in approval as the guns went off in a single blast to starboard.

Stefan drilled his crews over and over again between engagements until they could load faster than any other ship’s crew out there. That allowed them to pour more cannon fire into the other ships than they could return.

This time, some of the guns had loaded chain shot, twin cannon balls joined together by a chain that was aimed high to tear through rigging and bring down sails and masts.

The broadside’s fire must have severed several vital stays and damaged the mainmast. With a splintering crash, the central mast on the raider ship twisted and slammed down across the deck until the top of the mast rested in the sea over one side of the rail.

The mast and the attach sails dragged in the water like an anchor, and the raider ship came to a complete stop, twisting to one side against the pull of the mast in the waves.

“Excellent shot, Mr. Claridge. My compliments to the gun crews. Mr. Dumont, you’re up. Ready the boarding parties. I’m bringing her alongside.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Rodrigo answered. He raised his dagger in the air and waved it over his head, rallying his boarding party.

“Helmsman, bring us over to her port side. Let’s avoid that mast laying to starboard.”

“Aye, Cap'n.”

Cari waited as the Vengeance turned in the wind and came about to approach the raider from the other side.

As soon as they slid close enough, Rodrigo shouted, “Grapnels away!”

The metal grappling hooks flew across and dug into the raider’s rail as the boarding parties pulled them taught, hauling the two ships together with a crash.

Rodrigo barely waited for the ships to meet before he bounded to the rail and launched himself in a flying leap over the rail and onto the deck of the other ship. His boarding party flowed over the side after him in a wave of battle cries.

“Vengeance is mine!”

Between the damage of their double broadside and the downed mast, the other ship’s main deck’s crew was disorganized and uncoordinated. Rodrigo and his men and women carved their way through the raiders with relative ease, angling back towards the ship’s quarterdeck and the captain and his officers.

It looked as if they’d won the day until the central cargo hatch burst open and two huge, horned figures climbed up onto the deck. Armed the with massive double-headed battle axes, the two creatures had the bodies of giant men with the heads of horned bulls.

“Minotaurs,” Mr. Dawkins called back from the Vengeance’s rail where he stood with the boarding party’s reserves. “Ma’am, they’ve got —"

“I see them,” Cari called down to the bosun. “We didn’t hear anything about them from the people along the coast.”

The seven-foot-tall creatures charged into the rear of Rodrigo’s boarding party, their axes cutting broad swaths through Cari’s crew.

“Damn,” Cari muttered. She was going to have to get over there fast if she wanted to salvage a win from this fight.

“Mr. Bowcott, I’m heading over. Alert Helen to expect more wounded than usual.”

Cari didn’t wait for a reply, instead leaping over the forward rail of the quarterdeck down to the main deck’s planking. Running over to where Mr. Dawkins waited with the reserve, Cari drew her rapier and dagger.

“Let’s go!”

Quest accepted — rescue the boarding party

Taking the rail in a single bound, Cari pushed off and launched herself over the gap between the ships and landed with a rolling tumble on the other side. The move brought her up behind one of the minotaurs.

She swiped at the back of the creature’s leg, aiming to sever the hamstring and cause it to tumble to the deck. Instead of hitting behind the knees, the strike hit lower along the armored greaves wrapped around the lower legs.

Cari managed to draw a little blood, but not much else and the monstrous man-bull turned and fixed its red, bloodshot eyes on her.

She dove to one side, putting her acrobatic dodge ability to good use and jumped back to her feet lunging to plunge her dagger into the minotaur’s unarmored side. The long blade slid over the beast’s ribs, again, causing only superficial damage.

Cari barely managed to roll backward, away from the huge axe’s backswing.

She landed hard on the deck and felt a spike of pain lance up through her left leg.

A foot-long splinter of wood stuck up from the deck and she’d fallen on it, cutting open a gash in the side of her leg.

Health damage — health -12

Cari couldn’t afford to worry about the injury because the minotaur’s pal had joined him in facing her.

She rolled to the side, avoiding the axe crashing into the deck where she’d been laying a split-second before.

Wincing against the pain in her leg, Cari pushed to her feet and pressed her attack against the two creatures.

There was no one around to help. The raider crew had rallied and managed to push her crew back away from their captain.

A tingling feeling on her left side told her another attack was coming as her prescience skill activated. Cari opted to dive forward this time, racing to get inside the arc of the longer battle axe sweeping around at her.

She almost made it, but the lower edge of the axe blade scored a line of fire across her back.

Health damage — health -8

The move brought her close enough to land both her follow-up attacks, though.

The power-up bar on the right side of Cari’s vision filled to half-way. If she could fill it up, she could activate her burst of speed. That would probably be enough to win the battle.

Probably.

Since she was already inside the first minotaur’s guard, Cari jumped to the side and thrust her dagger into the exposed belly in front of her.

She pulled the blade free and danced around to the creature’s rear, avoiding another strike by the wicked axe blade.

Lunging forward, Cari managed a deep piercing blow to the back just about where one of the kidneys should be. She was rewarded when the minotaur bellowed in agony and arched its back before falling over backward.

Cari stepped out of the way, watching the status bar fill almost all the way.

One more hit should do it.

She leaned forward to stab down with her rapier into the minotaur’s neck and finish it off.

The attack never landed.

A tingling sensation from behind warned Cari of her mistake just a little too late.

The other minotaur had lowered its head and charged at her from behind knocking her flying across the deck as one of the sharp horns pierced her back.

Health damage — health -18

She landed hard and rolled up against the rail on the far side of the main deck. This time, she was no longer able to bounce back to her feet.

When Cari climbed back up to stand and face the two minotaurs, a sharp pain in her back announced some severe damage there. The blood dripped down the small of her back to pool where her belt held her breeches up over her hips.

That’s gonna leave a scar.

The second minotaur helped the first back to its feet and pointed in her direction.

Both lowered their heads and charged at her, opting to use their horns to finish her rather than their axes. If they hit, they’d knock her back over the rail and into the shark-infested waters below.

Cari saw one chance.

Reaching up with one hand, she grabbed a taut rope tied off at the rail. With a sweeping slash of her blade, she severed the line and held on tight.

The wrenching yank nearly pulled her shoulder out of her socket as she shot upward, pulling up her knees so the charging minotaurs just missed her.

Across the deck, her escape had a secondary effect. A spar from the aft mast crashed down, killing several raiders instantly and scattering many others. It gave her crew a chance to regroup and counter-attack.

Cari let go of the rope and dropped back to the deck to land behind the two bull-headed beasts, confused by her sudden disappearance.

Lunging, her rapier flicked out, once, then twice, in rapid succession. Each hit scored a piercing attack in the muscled backs of her foes.

They yowled in pain and spun around to face her. Rage filled their bloodshot eyes.

It was too late for them.

The second lunging attack filled her status bar. The power-up status flashed an iridescent green on the right side of her vision.

Focusing on the green glow, Cari activated her burst of speed.

Right away, time slowed, allowing her to move at a pace nearly double everyone else for a brief time.

The timer in the corner of her visual field read fifty seconds before it started counting down.

She had to work fast. When it ran out, she’d be nearly helpless during the recovery period from using the powerful skill.

Ducking under a slow-motion swipe from one of the enormous battle axes, Cari charged forward, leading with sword and dagger and laid open the belly of the first minotaur.

Spinning around the dying creature, she now stood behind the second minotaur. The beast-man struggled to keep up with her speed and agility.

He was unsuccessful.

This time she succeeded in slicing through the hamstrings at the back of the knees and the minotaur’s legs buckled.

Cari lowered her shoulder and rammed forward into the falling beast, tipping it forward to slam into the deck on his face.

She ran past, stabbing downward at the back of the minotaur’s neck, killing it just as the other one succumbed to its wounds as well.

4,000 experience

4,000 experience

Quest completed — rescue the boarding party

8,000 experience

Level Up!

Cari checked the timer. Forty seconds remained.

It might be enough time to pull off what she planned.

She charged forward towards the quarterdeck of the raider ship. The raider captain stood at the forward rail, rallying his crew in their stalled counterattack.

He saw the blur of her approach and pointed at her with a flintlock pistol in his hands.

It was going to be close.

She had to cross the length of the ship from where she’d finished off the two minotaurs.

The pistol fired, it’s barrel expelling a plume of gray smoke and a round bullet right at her.

Surprised she could see the speeding bullet at all, Cari nearly missed a flashing message at the top of her visual field.

Dodge Projectiles -- Active

She’d forgotten about the new master duelist skill she’d received at level 10. That was why she could see the bullet’s path as it flew towards her.

Time to roll the dice.

Twisting her torso to the side as she ran at her full, enhanced speed, the bullet flew past her face. It passed so close, she felt the superheated projectile’s searing passage on her cheek.

Without missing a beat, Cari used her increased speed and acceleration to propel her forward towards a raised hatch cover.

She bounded off it, kicking upward with all her strength.

The move launched her in the air over the quarterdeck rail, executing a diving leap and somersault to land on the deck next to the surprised raider captain.

She kicked out with one leg as the last few seconds ticked off the power-up timer. The move knocked the raider captain’s legs out from under him.

Cari’s hand lanced outward to slice at the man’s throat as he fell.

Blood spurted from the gaping, fatal wound. He was dead before his body hit the deck.

4,500 experience

The timer hit zero and Cari swooned as dizziness and overwhelming fatigue swept over her, knocking her to her knees.

Stabbing the point of her rapier into the deck planking and gripping her hilt with all her remaining might, Cari managed to keep from falling over.

She remained there kneeling next to the dead raider captain, trying to look as deadly now as she had seconds before despite her gasping breaths.

The remaining raider officers stared at her and then at their dead captain.

“Surrender, and you live,” Cari bluffed. Her voice sounded distant as she struggled to remain conscious, her vision blackening around the edges.

Using her remaining strength, she lifted the hand holding her dagger and pointed the bloody weapon at the nearest of the raiders.

“I’m the Dread Raider Cari, you bastard, and you die next.”

That did it.

Cutlasses and boarding axes clattered to the planks on the quarterdeck. One of the officers raised his voice in a shout.

“Surrender. Barracuda crew, drop your arms and surrender.”

Cari nodded, keeping the grim, confident smile on her face. She only had to hold on a little longer.

More weapons clattered to the planks below on the main deck.

Quest completed — secure the surrender of the raider ship

8,000 experience

Rodrigo raced up to the quarterdeck to stand beside his captain. He knew how vulnerable she was after using her incredible power.

“I’ve got this, Cari,” he said as more of his men and women came up to take the officers into custody.

She wanted to berate him for being so informal in public, but she succumbed to the combination of her wounds and the aftermath of using her power-up ability.

Cari closed her eyes and slipped into unconsciousness first.

Chapter 3

Cari woke up in her cabin, laying on her stomach in bed. Strong hands pressed down on her back and she felt a brief searing pain then a tugging sensation.

Helen’s soothing voice came to her through the sleepy haze.

“Hold still, Cap'n. I’m almost finished stitching up this puncture from the minotaur’s horns. You’re lucky he didn’t pierce your kidney. I’m fresh out of healing potions, and I’m not sure I could have saved you.”

“The rest of the crew?” Cari asked.

“We lost ten,” Helen replied. Cari heard the sadness in her surgeon’s tone. “We have to return to Tandon and purchase more potions from the temple priests there if you’re planning on hunting more raiders anytime soon.”

Cari winced as Helen placed another stitch in her back.

“Weren’t there some potions on board the raider ship?”

“No, ma’am. One of our cannon balls smashed their ship’s infirmary. All the bottles containing any potions were crushed along with it.”

“That sucks,” Cari remarked.

Helen laughed and patted Cari’s shoulder after snipping the thread and tying it off.

“You can get up now. Be careful how you move, though, or you’ll rip out the stitches.”

“Don’t I always listen to you, Helen?”

“No, ma’am, you don’t. I’ll remind you, we don’t have any potions left. Anything you do to yourself is going to have to heal the normal way, nice and slow, even with your uncanny healing ability.”

Cari rolled onto her side and sat up on the edge of her bed. She winced when she extended her arm to reach for her shirt, hanging on the back of the chair next to the bed.

Helen shook her head but didn’t say anything. The woman would have liked to keep her in bed for a day or two, Cari knew.

That wouldn’t do, though. The crew needed to see their captain on her feet again and looking as fit as ever.

Cari fought through the pain and pulled the white, cotton shirt over her head and settled it in place. Wincing, she stood and gingerly tucked the shirttail into the top of her breeches.

She opted out of the leather corset she usually wore. It would be too painful to bear right now, and Helen would make sure to show her displeasure with Cari’s disregard for the surgeon’s orders. She wouldn’t be gentle with the tugging as she laced it up. Helen would see it as the right punishment for foolish pride.

Instead of the corset, Cari chose her blue uniform coat with the bright brass buttons. It looked more formal than she liked but it would have to do and would cover up any blood that seeped through her shirt.

Pulling on the woolen coat, Cari walked to the cabin door. It was time to get back on deck and show the crew she was alright.

On the main deck, Mr. Bowcott, along with Stefan and Rodrigo, stood talking with a group of individuals, two women and a man, dressed in an assortment of torn clothing and rags. They seemed to be embroiled in an animated discussion about something.

Cari crossed to them and cleared her throat.

“Is there something I should be aware of, ladies and gentlemen?”

“Ah, uh, you’re up, Cap’n,” the first mate said. “I knew Helen was checking in on you, but based on her description of your wounds, I assumed you’d be laid up a little longer.”

“I heal fast, even without potions or magic. What is going on? Who are these people?”

“Ma’am,” Stefan said. “These are the surviving elders from the fishing village last hit by the raider ship we took yesterday. They have an alarming tale to tell about the raider’s planned destination before we chased them down.”

Cari turned to the two women and the man who been arguing with her officers.

“I’m Captain Cari Dix, Commander of the Vengeance. What is it you want my people to do?”

The first woman nudged her companion. “I told you it was her. How many Captain Cari’s wander the seas fighting raider ships and freeing slaves?”

The captive man alongside them raised an eyebrow. “You’re the vaunted Dread Raider Cari?”

“I am,” Cari replied, her tone shifting deeper as she detected doubt or reservations in his voice.

“Somehow I thought you would be…”

“Older, perhaps?” Cari took a menacing step towards the man.

Mr. Bowcott stepped up beside her. “Many are surprised by the prowess and skill of our captain. I can attest to being amazed by her exploits on numerous occasions. I assure you, she is the real thing, the true Dread Raider Cari.”

The man stared at her for a few seconds. She returned it with a glare, raising one eyebrow as if daring him to say anything else about her abilities.

He blinked and looked away first and Cari smiled. She let out the breath she’d been holding.

“What is it you’d like us to know,” Cari continued, turning to the two women.

“Three ships raided our village and two others. I overheard the captain talking to his officers about a rendezvous with the others and a trading barque collecting slaves from all the various raider ships to take to the Sultanate lands far to the south. It seems they make a fair bit of money from the sale.”

“The Sultanate?” Rodrigo asked. “The Empire is at war with them. Even the raiders stay away from them whenever possible. Why would anyone be selling slaves to them?”

“Think about it, Rod,” Stefan said. “If you have a ship full of slaves, do you sell them to a place where they could tell everyone where they’re from and who took them or do you sell them in a place no one in their right minds would go looking for them?”

Cari nodded in agreement with her lieutenant’s statement. “That, and more and more places in the Empire outlawing slavery. Pretty much the only places that own slaves any more are far to the east.”

“Yeah, near the Duke of Charon’s holdings,” Rodrigo added, his voice cold with anger. “You know he’s got to be behind this, Cari.”

He stopped himself, but not before he used her first name. She’d had a lengthy discussion with both of them about using her name in familiar terms while in public like this. She had to be the Captain at all times when on deck, and no one else.

“Mr. Dumont, I believe there are duties that require your attention. Mr. Bowcott, don’t we need to have the ballast hold checked for leaks and damage after our encounter yesterday?”

“I believe they were only given a cursory check by the ship’s carpenter, ma’am. They could certainly use a more thorough going over before we get underway and send these folks back to their homes in the captured raider.”

“Excellent. You heard him, Lieutenant. Strip down to your small clothes and climb into the ballast hold. Don’t come out until you’ve checked every seam.”

Rodrigo winced. That job was hard, dirty work and he knew it.

“Yes, Captain Dix. I’ll report back as soon as the job is finished, ma’am.”

He saluted and ran to the ladder leading to the lower decks, disappearing below.

“Now that we’ve attended to that, let’s turn our thoughts to what we should do about this meet up to transfer the slaves,” Cari said. “What is the status of the crew, Mr. Bowcott?”

“We are pretty beat up by that last fight, Cap’n. I don’t know how we’d fare without recruiting more crew members somewhere.”

“Pardon me, mistress,” the second and younger of the two women said. “I would join your crew, as would many of our companions. We could fill out your ship’s company and help you take revenge on those who took us captive, to begin with.”

Cari considered the young woman. A part of her mind was amused at the way she thought the woman younger. She was, in all likelihood a few years older than she was. Yet, Cari was the captain of her own warship and the woman was not. Cari had earned this post, on more than one occasion. She planned on doing so again when the opportunity presented itself.

“What is your name?” Cari asked.

“Darla,” the woman said. “The raiders kilt my husband. I ain’t got nothing else to go back to. Plus, my sister’s captive on one of those other ships. I’d like the chance to fight to get ‘er back.”

“We work hard, drill hard, and fight hard, Darla. Men and women, we all do our share on this ship.”

“I know, Mistress. I can pull my weight. The others who would join you will as well.”

Cari glanced at the other two. They seemed surprised by Darla’s offer, but they were older than she was and likely had other ties back on the mainland.

“Mr. Bowcott, see how many of the other former prisoners are interested in joining the crew. Report back to me with the numbers and how you think they’ll fit with our complement.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’ll have the answer for you within the hour.”

“Good, in the meantime, we still need to return the remaining folk to the mainland. Make sure there are enough able seamen among them to sail the raider ship and take it and the raider prisoners back to the coast. They can set sail once we’ve recovered enough stores to replenish our supplies and weapon stores.”

“Yes, Cap’n. I’ll add my findings to the report with the other.”

Darla dropped to a knee before Cari. “Thank you, Mistress. You won’t be sorry. You’ll see.”

“Get up, girl,” Cari said. “It’s Captain or ma’am. I’m not a noblewoman or a princess for you to be kneeling and bowing to, no matter what you may have heard. Go with the first mate here and help him find out which of your fellow prisoners wish to join our number. We’ll see later on about what you can do.”

Darla stood up, unsure what to say next. “Uh, yes Cap’n, ma’am.”

Cari turned to Stefan. “Mr. Claridge, see which of our wounded could use a break from our work and are still able enough to help crew the raider ship. We’ll detail enough of them to help get the remainder of these people home.”

“Yes, Captain. I’ll arrange a skeleton crew able enough to get the job done. I don’t think many of them will be happy about it, though. They’ll want to remain here and join us in the coming fight.”

“Tell them there’ll be other fights. We’ll skim the coast on our return and pick any of them up who wish to rejoin us. Or they can head to Tandon and meet up with us on our next stop there for refitting.”

Stefan nodded and left to gather his crew for the raider.

Mr. Bowcott took the three former prisoners with him and left Cari alone on the deck watching the bustle of activity around her as the battle damage was deftly repaired on both ships.

Judging from the progress, they’d be ready to sail again in a day or so. Then they could set out to free some more slaves.

Taking a moment to check her statistics since she’d leveled up during the battle, Cari looked over the updated information presented to her.

Name: Cari Dix

Class: Duelist

Level: 11

Attributes:

Brawn: 12 - +2 to hit/damage

Wisdom: 10 - +1

Luck: 10 - +1 to all saving throws

Speed: 20 - +7 defense

Charm: 14 - +3 personal reaction

Health: 72/110

Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 2, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Taunt, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience — 2, Ambidexterity, Seamanship — 2, Navigation — 2

Master Duelist power-up bonus — projectile dodge 50%

Experience: 173,000/300,000

Attribute points: 2

Skill points: 1

———

As usual, Cari had two new attribute points to apply and one new skill level to select.

Deciding they’d need the ability to bluff if she was to be successful in the plan she had brewing to recover the other slaves, Cari placed her two attribute points in Charm. That added another bonus of plus one to her ability to influence others when negotiating and trading.

She tried to add the extra skill level to her Master Duelist ability to dodge projectiles. A fifty percent chance to dodge was good, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

A glowing golden message appeared in her visual field overtop the stats menu.

Unable to increase Master Duelist skill at this time. Next automatic increase to 55% occurs at level 12.

The notification disappointed her, but at least she knew it would increase as she continued to level up. Since that didn’t work, Cari decided to add an additional level to her Prescience ability. It always helped to sense hidden attacks, plus it made her feel a little like Spider-Man.

Satisfied with the progress of everything except her current HP, Cari headed to the quarterdeck where she could oversee the repairs and training of her crew while staying out of the way. They never knew when the next engagement might catch up with them.

Chapter 4

The journey south took five days. Cari stood next to her cabin’s chart table and studied the maps retrieved from the raider ship. She chuckled at the marking on the chart. An actual “X” marked the location of the rendezvous on the main map. She’d transferred the location to her more accurate charts and laid in the course to get them there.

According to her navigational calculations, they had to be close to the location on the map.

The time of travel had not been wasted. Their crew was back to full strength, thanks to the new recruits brought over by Darla, but they needed some work to integrate with the rest of the folk on the Vengeance.

Most of the new crew members were young, like Darla, and had little training in anything resembling martial arts. Even so, they were all accomplished fishermen and had the skills and the work ethic to make them capable seamen and women with only a little education on the ways of sailing a ship as large as this one.

A few showed promise with a cutlass or boarding axe, and Rodrigo had taken them into his portion of the crew to train them on boarding actions. Stefan picked up enough to fill out the losses in his gun crews. The remainder worked with Mr. Dawkins, the bosun, on learning seamanship and the ways of the Vengeance.

Now that they were almost to the rendezvous, she’d see if the new crew members were up to the rigors of battle and close combat.

A knock at the door interrupted her musings.

“Come.”

Percy opened the door and poked his head into her cabin.

“Sail spotted to the southeast, ma’am. Mr. Dawkins sent me to fetch you and Mr. Bowcott.”

“Tell the bosun I’m on my way and sound the bell for general quarters. Let’s prepare for another sea battle. Hopefully, they fall for our ruse and we are able to take the ship without firing any shots or taking any casualties.”

“Aye, Cap’n. It would be nice to trick them into thinking we’re the ship they’ve been waiting for.”

Percy left and soon the general quarter's bell rang from the main deck, summoning the crew to prepare the ship for battle.

Cari grabbed her cloak and winced as the stitches in her back pulled against each other while she wrapped it around her shoulders. Her health had improved with rest and food, but she was still not at a hundred percent.

Sliding her sword baldric over her head and settling it diagonally across her chest, Cari gripped the hilt of her sword with her hand to steady it and left for the main deck.

Mr. Bowcott was already standing next to the helmsman, along with the bosun, Stefan, and Rodrigo.

Ahead of their ship, just coming over the horizon, Cari checked out the distant ship with her naked eye. She gauged the wind speed and the water current vectors to get a rough estimate of their travel time. They would arrive in a half hour or so.

“Gentlemen, from everything I was able to glean from the raider captain’s log book, this ship is a large one but mostly outfitted for transport and not for war. Based on that I have a plan to use in an effort to avoid killing any of the prisoners with an errant cannonball striking below decks.”

“Trickery rather than force, Cap’n?” the first mate asked.

“Yes, Mr. Bowcott. Sometimes when you have a nail, you don’t need a hammer. What you really need is a pair of pliers to pull out the nail and remove the problem entirely. I plan on posing as a raider captain with slaves to sell. If I’m successful in my bluff, we can bring part of our boarding party over to guard the captives during transfer. We’ll have the rest of the boarding party disguised as slaves. Once everyone is there, we’ll reveal our true purpose and take the ship without firing a shot.”

Quest accepted — take slave ship without firing a shot

Cari knew there was a risk involved in her plan, but she masked her concerns behind an expression of determination. The crew needed to be behind this plan a hundred percent for it to work. Everyone had a part to play.

“Mr. Dawkins, run up the signal flag we got from the raider ship. Let’s start our little deception by telling them we have a cargo of slaves to transfer. Mr. Bowcott, can you tie a knot that looks secure but is easy to release in an instant?”

“I can indeed, Cap’n.”

“Let’s select our slaves from our boarding party and then secure each of their hands together with one of those knots. When the time comes, they’ll slip their hands free and move with the rest of us to secure the slaver’s ship.”

“Mr. Dumont, fill two large crates with cutlasses and boarding axes.”

“Aye, ma’am. May I ask why?”

“It’s all part of my clever plan, you’ll see. Get moving, everyone. All our preparations need to be finished before we get anywhere near them so nothing looks out of place.”

She stepped to the rail to watch over the crew as they hustled about the business of making themselves ready to play the part of a normal raider crew. It wasn’t hard. They all knew the roles to play, and they’d taken plenty of raiders prisoner to let them know how to act.

The group from the boarding party disguised as slaves assembled on the main deck, surrounded by the rest of the boarding party acting as the guards over the prisoners. Two large, rectangular crates that looked like coffins had been found and filled with weapons.

The crates would be carried over along with their cargo of slaves. When they slipped their bonds, the fake slaves would grab weapons from the crates and join the rest of the boarding party in taking the ship.

Everything was in place just in time. The two ships approached close enough for the slaver captain to hail them from the stern of his ship.

“You signaled you have cargo for us. How many slaves do you have? We are nearly full.”

Cari stepped up to the side rail and cupped her hands together to help her voice carry to the other ship about fifty yards away.

“We have forty slaves for you and a load of other cargo I was asked to transfer to you by Captain Sanchez.”

“Where is Sanchez and his ship? He was the one who was supposed to meet me at this rendezvous.”

“He took significant damage in a storm and had to offload his cargo to me for delivery. He lost half of the slaves he’d taken when they drowned in the hold. His ship took on a great deal of water during the storm. If it weren’t for that, I’d have even more to deliver.”

“Very well, we’ll find room for them. How would you like to do the transfer? We have several longboats we can send over.”

Cari smiled to herself before she replied.

“Excellent. Between your boats and ours, we can make the transfer in one trip. I’ll come over as well. I have a personal message to deliver in private.”

“Come along then. We can toast to our profit before you continue on.”

Cari waved to the captain in reply and turned to her first mate.

“Mr. Dawkins, you will accompany me, along with Lieutenant Claridge. Fetch Helen as well. Tell her to bring her satchel of herbs and bandages. The slaves on this ship are likely to need medical attention. The bosun has the ship until we return.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’ll pass along your orders and wait for you on the main deck with the rest of the boarding party.”

They lowered their two boats over the side and started filling them with the bound captives and guards. The slaver’s ship sent over three more boats. They arrived just as the Vengeance’s two boats were loaded. Cari and her command crew made up the last of the second boat’s passengers.

The remainder of the boarding party filled the three slaver longboats and brought along the two crates. Once loaded, they all headed back to the larger ship bobbing in the light ocean swells beside the Vengeance.

The slaver captain and his officers stood on the deck waiting for Cari to arrive as she climbed over the rail. She bowed and waited for the rest of her team to climb up to the main deck.

Cari noticed immediately the man wore an Imperial Navy uniform. She hadn’t been able to make out the insignia on his jacket from the deck of the Vengeance when they’d talked before. The uniform on him and his officers brought many questions to mind.

“Captain,” Cari said with a nod. “I’m Captain Crow. It is good to get these filthy slaves off my hands. They’re taking up space in the hold I could better use for more lucrative cargo.”

“I’m Captain Shales, Miss Crow. I have to say I’m surprised to see one so young in command of a ship like yours. You’re not that pirate Cari Dix, are you?”

Cari wasn’t ready for that, but she covered it well and laughed at the captain’s accusation. Her officers picked up on her cue and laughed along with her.

“I get that a lot, Captain Shales. Believe me, I’d like to run into her so I can rid the seas of her scourge once and for all. I’m getting tired of being mistaken for her.”

There was a pause. Cari kept her eyes locked on the slaver captain’s. After a few seconds, a soft chime sounded inside Cari’s head.

Charm bonus enabled — influence increase achieved

The slaver captain suddenly broke into laughter of his own.

“I suppose even she wouldn’t be as foolish as to deliver herself into my hands the way you have. If you do manage to capture or kill her, my employer will be happy to pay you quite the bounty for proof of her death or turning her over to him.”

“Your employer? I thought from your uniforms you were Imperial officers.”

“Let’s just say, it’s easy to freelance out here on the high seas. That is why I also work for the Duke of Charon, as do so many of your raider brethren.”

“We do at that. I didn’t know his influence spread as far as controlling naval vessels doubling as slave ships.”

“His influence extends even farther than that, if the rumors are to be believed.”

“Uh, you said something earlier about a toast with me and my officers?” Cari asked. She needed to keep him occupied so he couldn’t stop her men and women from taking control of the ship.

“Of course, come with me. We’ll retire to my cabin. It is quite spacious on a ship this size. We can all share some of the excellent wine I managed to procure from the Sultanate coast. There are extensive vineyards there and their wine is unmatched by any we produce in the Empire.”

Cari followed the captain towards his cabin at the stern of the ship. The final group of her fake slaves climbed over the rail now. She had to hurry to get the ship’s officers below before the takeover began.

“Aren’t you and the rest of the Empire technically at war with the Sultanate?”

“Technically, yes, but the Duke has negotiated his own peace with them, pending him getting control of the Crystal Throne. Once that happens, you and your raiders will be paid handsomely and get the hostages from your families back.”

“Uh, yes, getting them back would be something we’d all desire.” Cari had to work to hide her surprise.

Her Charm ability was still in play, though, and Captain Shales didn’t pick up on her reaction. In fact, the Charm effect had loosened his tongue quite a bit.

“I was the one who captured them, you know. While the captains met with the Duke in secret, I led the raid that took the families captive.”

“You must be quite proud the Duke placed such confidence in you for such an important mission. What did you do with them once you had them?”

“I put them in the one place where no one in the Empire, even the raiders, would think to look.”

Captain Shales leaned in with a conspiratorial wink.

“They’re in a secret compound on the northern coast of the Sultanate’s Reinar Province.”

Cari wasn’t sure where that was. Her charts of the Sultanate coast to the south were incomplete with only a few cities marked.

The small group reached the captain’s cabin and they filed in to stand around a long table there. A steward appeared and pulled the corks from several bottles before passing around crystal goblets with gold rims that must be worth a fortune.

Once the steward filled everyone’s goblet, Captain Shales raised his for the toast.

“To our common ventures, may they always be profitable.”

“Here, here,” the others replied. Everyone sipped at their wine and smiled.

The vintage was quite good, Cari decided. She’d developed a taste for good wine since she’d taken the Vengeance. It was safer to drink the bottled wine and beer at sea than the limited water stores they had.

Cari raised her goblet as she heard the pounding of feet running on the deck above. A few muffled shouts filtered down to them. Captain Shales opened his mouth to say something to one of his officers, but Cari interrupted him.

“To the Duke of Charon. May he get everything he deserves.”

“Here, here,” came the reply again as everyone once again drank from their goblets.

An anguished cry from the passage outside the cabin broke the hold of her Charm ability on the slaver captain.

“What the —”

Cari didn’t wait for him to finish his question. In one fluid motion, she pulled her dagger and plunged it into the Captain’s chest.

4,500 experience

As he fell over backward, the questions in his eyes left unanswered, Cari drew her sword and turned to face the other slaver officers.

She didn’t have to worry. The first mate, Stefan, and Helen had each taken out one of the naval officers before they had a chance to utter more than a groan.

Cari opened her mouth to issue orders but stopped when the door opened and Rodrigo stepped into the cabin, his bloody cutlass in hand.

“We’ve taken the ship, Cap’n. I came down to see if you needed any help.”

Quest completed — take slave ship without firing a shot

10% bonus for Charm attribute use

11,000 experience

“All good here, Lieutenant. Well done! Now, search the ship and make sure none of the crew is hiding out. Take them all into custody and free the slaves in the hold.”

“Are you headed back to the Vengeance, ma’am,” Mr. Bowcott asked.

“No, I think we need to search this cabin for any evidence we can use to link this ship to the Duke of Charon. I also need this ship’s charts and the captain’s logbook. I want to know what he planned on doing with these slaves once he’d filled his hold.”

The Vengeance’s officers raced off to attend to their duties, leaving Cari alone with the bodies, the souls of their former owners now joining the ever-growing list of the men and women Cari had killed.

She wondered if she would ever be rid of the ghosts that haunted her.

Chapter 5

Hal groaned and rolled over, his hand reached out and found the familiar form of his wife beside him. If felt like they were in a bed but he couldn’t remember going to sleep.

Then his last memory returned, and Hal’s eyes popped open.

There was a canopy over the bed, a familiar crest embroidered on the thick velvet fabric. The Imperial griffons rampant on either side of a shield bearing Kareena’s family crest.

Hal sat up, the familiar surroundings setting his mind at ease.

“Mona, wake up. We’re here.”

“Wh-where are we?”

“In our old rooms at the palace. They’ve been left mostly as when we returned home all those years ago.”

The furniture all remained in place where they were when they opened the portal to go home fourteen years before. The only difference was someone had covered it all with white sheets to keep the dust off the fabric underneath, but it looked like everything was there.

Hal rolled over and put his feet down on the bare marble floor. His movement kicked up a great deal of dust and he fought back a sneeze.

“How long have we been gone?” Hal wondered aloud.

“I have no idea,” Mona answered. “The time differential is so chaotic. I could never nail down a conversion equation that worked. Fourteen years at home on Earth could be anywhere from fifty to several hundred years here.”

“Judging from the amount of dust, I’m worried it’s been more towards the long end of that scale. I wonder if anyone here even remembers us.”

She walked around the bed and to the desk by the wall. Reaching under the desk, she let her fingers roam by old muscle memory until she found the small lever she’d built into the underside. She pulled back and a panel popped open in the wall with a click.

“It doesn’t look like anyone found my workroom after we left,” Mona said as she glanced inside the secret room. “Everything appears to be right where I left it.”

Hal walked across the marble floor, careful not to shuffle his feet, trying to disturb as little dust as possible. He stopped, staring at the pristine layer of dust on the floor before him.

“Mona, based on your calculations, if Cari left as soon as she got home from school on Friday, how long has she been here?”

Mona’s brow wrinkled as she pondered the math problem. “It’s hard to say, weeks, maybe months. It could be as much as a year.” Judging from the look on her face, she didn’t like the answer.

“Mona, look at the floor. What do you see?”

“Nothing but dust, well except where we’ve been walking.”

“Exactly, nothing but years of dust blanketing everything. Cari came to Fantasma. We know that. It’s clear, though, she didn’t end up here.”

“Where’d she go, then? Tandon?”

Hal shook his head. “I dialed in the program updates towards the end of our time here to attune to the individual and send them to their last known location. But I made it so the old processor’s webcam didn’t have to work so hard. It just worked off facial recognition and body type and size. It clearly recognized us and sent the portal here to our rooms in the palace.”

“Where did it send Cari, if she didn’t come here, Hal? What did you do?”

“I set a random hospitality location as the destination for anyone the software didn’t have a prior location for. It was based on body type. The algorithm would have selected a random inn or hostel in the city and sent that person there.”

“You sent our sixteen-year-old daughter to some random tavern in a place like the Crystal City?”

Hal winced at her tone. “I didn’t send her, hon, she just sort of ended up there.”

Mona ignored his explanation.

“Is there any way to dial in where she landed?”

“We’ll just have to search the most likely locations. The software’s magical interface would have chosen from more popular locations rather than dive bars and underworld hangouts.”

Mona pressed the panel on the secret room closed. “I’ll come back and gather some things from there later, right now, we need to get some help and go find our daughter.”

“We should probably find out who the current Empress or Emperor is. I hope Kay is still alive, but there’s no guarantee she is. It could be one of her kids. Come on.”

Hal crossed to the double doors leading to the outer hallway and listened. Someone was humming to herself on the other side. He tried the door’s handle. It was locked.

A quick search didn’t turn up a key, at least, not on their side.

Hal reached into this pouch and dug for his lock picks. Mona rolled her eyes and pushed him aside.

Unclipping a small tube, the size of a miniature flashlight from her utility belt, she twisted the end several times, winding up the spring mechanism inside. Mona pulled off the cap to reveal a long spike with several small ridges at the end.

She inserted the spike into the keyhole and depressed the button on the end, releasing the mechanism to a whispered, whirring sound. A few seconds later the lock clicked open and Mona pulled open the door, returning the clockwork skeleton key to her belt.

Hal started through the door to see a maid bustling about on the other side. She stopped when he appeared in the doorway and stared at him wide-eyed. Her mouth moved, but no intelligible sound came out at first, just a sort of high pitched squeak approximating speech.

The maid’s eyes darted from Hal and Mona to the wall next to them and back again. She finally found the words to express what she saw.

“G-g-g-g-ghosts,” she managed to say before she screamed and ran away down the long hallway, abandoning her feather-duster and broom to clatter to the floor behind her.

Hal scratched his head as he watched her run away. Mona tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the wall next to the door. There was a painted portrait of him along with Mona holding a three-year-old Cari in her arms. Hal realized he and Mona looked almost exactly the same as they did in the painting. A brass plaque below the portrait read:

“The champion’s quarters. Dedicated to Prince Hal, Princess Mona, and Princess Cari, the lost champions of the Crystal Throne. In honor of Empress Kareena’s 75th Jubilee.”

“I think it’s been a substantial amount of time since we were last here, hon.”

“Ya think?”

———

The troop of six guards in green surcoats, embroidered with a coat of arms strange to Hal’s memory, surrounded him and Mona, escorting them down the hallway. Two walked in front and four walked behind. Each was armed with a sword but also carried a musket in their hands. Clearly, gunpowder had grown in use, at least by Imperial troops and guards.

They’d wound through the corridors of the palace while Hal tried to remember back to his many days staying here to get his bearings. If his sense of direction was correct, the guards took them towards the Empress’ private audience chamber.

He knew his assumption was correct when they arrived at a set of double doors adorned with the crest of Kareena’s house. Whoever these guards were representing, Kareena’s family still held the Empire. That was a relief given all the energy he’d expended deposing the usurper Kang to get her back on the throne.

Two guards stood on either side of the doors, armed with polished ceremonial pikes, looking functional enough despite their adornments. They each leaned their pikes across the door until the shafts of their long weapons crossed, barring entry.

“What is your purpose here with the Empress?” The guard on the left asked.

The sergeant of the guard troop escorting Hal and Mona stepped forward.

“The Empress has summoned the palace interlopers to her audience chamber so they might be examined by her personally. We have brought them from the holding cells below so she may do so.”

The lead door guard nodded. “You may pass.”

The two guards snapped their pikes back upright and rapped the steel-shod butts of their shafts on the marble floor twice. That must’ve been a signal to someone inside because the doors opened inward revealing the private audience chamber. The decor had changed since Hal had last been here, but it was the same room he remembered.

He and Mona followed the two lead guards of their troop forward and approached a small dais upon which sat an ornately carved wooden throne covered with gold leaf. Upon the throne sat an old woman.

It was difficult to gauge her age, but her frailty was evident in the way she let the throne’s back and arms support her as she sat awaiting their arrival. She wore a silver tiara rather than a more formal crown, though he supposed it might be an accommodation to keep the weight of a full gold crown from her head.

As Hal and Mona were brought forward, the Empress leaned forward peering at the two newcomers to her audience chamber. Despite her advanced age, there was something familiar about her, especially when he looked her in the eye.

It dawned on him who she must be as he got closer and the guards escorting them stopped and snapped to attention.

“Kay?”

“Hello, Hal. You’re looking surprisingly spry considering it’s been more than eighty years since you left Fantasma. Welcome back to the Crystal Palace. You’re late, you know.”

“Late?” Mona asked. “What do you mean late?”

“I summoned you both almost a year ago. I’d given up hope you’d come, but then I heard the report of two interlopers in archaic dress appearing out of nowhere, right outside your old chambers. A spark of hope returned. Now here you are.”

Hal’s mind spun with questions but something she said triggered one to rise to the top.

“You summoned us? A year ago?”

“I suppose it’s been more like ten months or so. It’s hard to keep track of time any more. I’m a little older than I was when you last saw me.”

The Empress chuckled a little, the small laugh turning into a wracking cough that took a moment to end. She didn’t sound good at all. When she took the white linen kerchief from her mouth, Hal noticed flecks of bright red blood spotted the bleached cloth.

Her coughing fit under control, the Empress continued.

“When you didn’t answer the summons, I presumed the magic had run out of the old talisman Tildi gave me when you left. Yet, here you are. Better late than never, I suppose.”

“Kay,” Mona said. “We didn’t come in response to your summons. It makes sense, though, now that you mention it, and sort of explains why we’re here now. We didn’t get your summons, but I think someone did. Cari is here.”

“I don’t think so. No one has spotted a child wandering the halls in the last eight months. I would have heard.”

“We don’t think she came here,” Hal said. “Mona thinks it’s more likely she was transported to an inn or house out in the surrounding city.”

“And she’s not a child,” Mona added. “At least, not a little one.”

“Wait,” the Empress asked. “How old would she be. You two don’t appear to have aged at all since you left. I assumed she was still young.”

“Fourteen years have passed back home since we left,” Mona replied. “Cari is sixteen now. She’s a remarkable young woman, but I fear she is unprepared for what she’d find here. If it’s been ten months, almost anything could have happened to her. Please, Kay, you have to help us find her.”

The Empress Kareena leaned back to rest against the rear of the throne. A smile crossed her face as she did.

“This explains much of what I’ve heard coming from the west and it pleases me greatly. Yes, indeed, it pleases me very much.”

“What does, Kay?” Hal asked. “Will you help us find Cari in the city or not? You were always very fond of her.”

“I still am, more than you know. Now that I know it is her the reports speak of.”

“What reports?” Mona asked. “You know where she is?”

“I know where she was at least. The last report I received was vague as to the mysterious woman’s whereabouts.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re not making any sense, Kay,” Hal said.

“I’m certain your daughter is here. A certain, mysterious young woman has been upsetting certain plans of my enemies, starting about eight months ago. I should have put the two things together, but my mind isn’t what it used to be.”

“If you know where she is, tell us, and we’ll go and get her,” Mona said.

“Much has happened since you and Hal left here, Mona. My reign has been a peaceful one for the most part. That all changed five years ago, just after the seventy-fifth-anniversary jubilee of my taking the throne. My family began to suffer a series of unfortunate accidents. At the same time, invaders to the east and south brought war once again to the Empire. By the time I realized my family was being systematically killed off and my control over the Empire weakened, it was too late. I thought all was lost and I called for help from the only one I knew I could trust.”

Empress Kareena stopped and met Hal’s eyes.

“You called me for help,” Hal said. His heart ached at the sorrow in his old friend’s eyes. “And I didn’t come.”

“But you’re wrong, Hal. Someone did come after all. Cari is here and, what is more, she is single-handedly responsible for saving the life of the last surviving heir to the Crystal Throne, my grandson, Timron.”

Hal listened as Kay related what little she knew from dispatches she received from the current Duke of Tandon about the mysterious heroine who saved both the Duke and the Prince from an assassin.

Kay pieced together other parts of the story from other rumors and reports. Cari had shown up in the capital, rescued the prince in the nick of time, spirited the hunted prince out of the capital, and taken him to Tandon for safe keeping. It was there she thwarted the assassination attempt on him.

“Tandon,” Mona said. “We have to get to Tandon, Hal. Now. Open a portal with your magic and take us there.”

“By your leave, Kay. We must find our daughter. Once we have her again, I’ll see what I can do to help keep your grandson safe. Cari must be found first.”

“I know it’s useless to argue with the two of you. You have my leave. You may travel to Tandon. You should know; however, I’ve heard nothing of her in any of the reports for months. She seems to have disappeared according to my sources there.”

Hal shook his head. “If she was there, then that is where we’ll find her or at least a way to track her whereabouts. Either way, we are going there now. Everyone, please stand back.”

Hal spread his arms wide and turned to one side as the guards and attendants cleared an area before the throne for him. Concentrating, Hal reached out to draw in the air and spirit magic that made up his ability to create portals to other places in Fantasma and also between this world and home.

His brow furrowed as he strained to pull in the necessary energy. After about thirty seconds, he let out a surprised gasp.

“What is it, Hal?” Mona asked. “Just open a portal to Tandon. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to do it after all these years. We need to get to Cari.”

“What is wrong with the magic, here?” Hal looked over at Kay. “It’s different than it was the last time I was here. It’s weaker and corrupted somehow. I can’t pull in enough power at one time to open a portal.”

Empress Kareena nodded. “I thought this might happen, though I hoped the mighty archmage, Hal Dix, might not have been affected.”

“What are you talking about, Kay?”

“Magic has slowly become tainted and lost much of its power over the years since you left. All the archmages are dead. Only ordinary healing mages and temple priests can do magic of any consequence any more. Even the things they can do are limited compared to what they once were able to accomplish.”

“It’s the advent of technology like gunpowder, Hal,” Mona said. “Tildi, Theran, and I talked about it once long ago as I compared my crafting skill as an Artificer here in Fantasma to my engineering education back home. They feared mechanical and chemical tech would drive magic from the world in the same way it did in ours long ago.”

“If that’s the case,” Hal said, unhappy with Mona’s explanation. “We’ve got a long overland trek ahead of us to get to Tandon. There’s no time to waste.”

“This changes some things, Hal. If you can’t create a portal to Tandon with your magic, then you won’t be able to create one to go home either. I might have an answer to that problem, though, or at least the start of an answer. Before we left, I’d been working on an idea for a device that would allow me to teleport to-and-from Fantasma without needing your assistance. It looks like that might be our only hope of returning home. I was close enough to completing it that I think I can finish it on the road. I will need to get some things from my workshop.”

“You think you can craft something that complex?” Hal asked his wife.

She nodded. “I think that’s the solution if we don’t want to be stuck here, Hal. A mechanical-magic hybrid device would help bridge the gap between both worlds, or at least it should.”

“Good, I’ll leave that to you, then,” Hal replied. “I’ll focus on working out our travel plans to the west country. This world has got to be frightening to Cari, especially if she’s had to fight off assassins and the like. She’s going to want us to take her home as soon as we find her.”

“Agreed. She must want to go home more than anything in the world.”

Chapter 6

Cari laughed as the wind brought the Vengeance about and they caught the more favorable crosswind and matched with the currents in this part of the sea. The exhilaration filled her with a joy she wouldn’t trade for the world.

Fantasma offered her a never-ending buffet of adventurous selections for her choosing. At the same moment she tired of chasing raiders, the opportunity presented itself to stop the slave trade in this part of the world. Who passed up that kind of chance to make a difference?

Her boring parents, that’s who. Back home, she’d never be allowed to do something as reckless and spontaneous as taking on a band of slavers.

They were always after her to “follow through” and “finish what she started.” They didn’t understand what a free spirit like herself needed to satisfy her desire for adventure.

A part of her wanted them to see what she’d accomplished since she’d been in Fantasma and what she planned to do next. She’d show them how she followed through and still lived an adventurous life.

“Land Ho!”

Cari glanced up at the lookout perched atop the mainmast high above. He pointed due south.

There was no sign of it on the horizon yet, but the southern continent would show itself soon as they sailed closer to their destination.

They’d headed south after Cari discovered an entry in the slaver captain’s logbook talking about the raider hostages. She dove back further in the logs until she found an entry with a folded note slipped in the book with it.

The letter had been from the Duke of Charon himself, telling the slaver captain to deliver a message from him to the captured raider families in a compound just west of the Sultanate city of Lyden. It hadn’t taken her long to find the compound on her charts.

The solution to the western Fantasma raider problem came to her as she looked at the charts.

Locating the families of the raider captains held prisoner here in the lands of the Sultanate would give her the leverage she needed. Once she freed these hostages, the raiders would have no need to prey on imperial merchant ships and coastal villages. Some semblance of peace might actually return to the Western Sea.

“Run up the Duke of Charon’s crest, Mr. Bowcott. Let’s show them we’re friends.”

“Them, ma’am?” Her first mate asked.

“The Sultanate ships guarding the approaches to the city ahead of us.”

He scanned the horizon, shading his eyes. “I don’t see anything.”

“Trust me, they’re there. Remember, the Empire is technically at war with the Sultanate, the Sultan, and his navy. Ready the ship for inspection and make sure all the officers are wearing the new uniforms we tailored for them after freeing the Duke’s slave ship.”

“Yes, Cap’n.”

As the first mate headed off to raise the Duke’s flag and check on the crew, Cari hooked a finger in her collar and tugged at the tight woolen fabric of the Imperial Navy jacket Helen had stitched for her, adapting the captain’s jacket they’d taken.

Before the first mate returned from his rounds, the lookout called down again.

“Sail Ho!”

Cari followed the lookout’s pointing finger to see the tops of a ship’s sails appearing over the horizon. It was rigged in a different sail pattern than used in the Empire to the north. This ship had large triangular sails with colorful geometric patterns painted on them, rather than the square and rectangular sails that made up most of the Vengeance’s canvas.

“Don’t let the strange sail pattern fool you, ma’am,” the bosun said from his position by the helmsman. “They can move pretty fast with those big colorful sails, faster than our ships sometimes.”

“That’s good to know, Mr. Dawkins. Percy, bring my spyglass. I’d like to get a look at this ship and see if I can pick out the captain. It might be a good idea to see who I’ll be trying to bluff.”

Percy came over and handed her the telescope. Cari brought the glass up to her eye and peered through it at the approaching Sultanate ship. The striking differences between the vessels and their designs stood out in the magnified image. The whole ship was painted in bright colors.

“They like their colored paint,” she remarked with a chuckle.

“I’ve heard all of them look like that,” Dawkins remarked. “It’s something to do with living in a land bordered by great deserts and scrub barrens. They believe by bringing bright colors to life in their ships and architecture, they fight off the plainness of the dreary lands around them.”

“May I see, Cap'n?” Percy asked.

Cari smiled at her cabin boy and handed him back the telescope. He trained the spyglass towards the approaching ship to stare at it for himself.

“Cap’n, they’ve got a huge bow chaser. Did you see it? That’s the largest ship-borne cannon I’ve ever seen.”

Cari turned back to the rail and held out her hand for the glass. Extending the telescope again, she focused her attention on the bow of the ship looking for what Percy might have seen. The boy’s eyes were very good. She could just barely make out the outline of what must be a cannon barrel jutting up beyond the hull at the front of the ship.

Percy was right. That gun was enormous. Her broadside cannons were all sixteen pounders, meaning they fired a sixteen-pound cannonball. The bow guns were a little larger. They fired twenty-pound cannon balls.

Cari tried to judge the size of the gun based on the men who walked the deck nearby. If her guess was correct, that cannon fired a thirty or thirty-two pounder.

The heavier weight ball and length of the cannon would fire farther and cause more damage on impact. She knew from her high school physics class, increasing the mass and acceleration of a projectile had an exponential effect on the energy imparted when it landed.

“Let’s hope we’re never on the receiving end of that bad boy,” Cari said. “It must use a massive powder load. I’m surprised the cast iron barrel will withstand the force of the initial blast.”

“If they ever fire it at us, we can hope they over load it and blow themselves up, Cap’n,” Percy said with a grin.

“I’d prefer to avoid a running battle with them at all. I think we can outrun them in most wind conditions, but it would be a close race.”

Cari turned back to the helmsman and bosun at the ship’s wheel.

“Run us in and bring us about so we’re running alongside them. I’ll try and bluff our way past them from a distance so we can continue on the way to our rescue mission. I’d prefer not to have to come about, heave to and travel over to their ship for a face to face meeting. We won’t have the benefit of back up from a boarding party disguised as slaves.”

“Aye, ma’am. We’ll bring her in as close as we can so you can converse via the speaking trumpet.”

“I’ll fetch it from the locker, ma’am,” Percy said, taking the spy glass back to the storage locker in front of the ship’s wheel.

He returned with what looked like a cheerleader’s cone-shaped megaphone, only smaller and made of brass. The speaking trumpet allowed her to project her voice across the distance between ships under way at sea. It was a crude but effective device, though a lot depended on the weather, wind, and waves.

An hour later, Cari shouted an answer to the other captain’s request for them to heave to and prepare for inspection.

“My ship is traveling to the compound maintained for my master to the west of Lyden. We have guaranteed safe passage.”

“Safe passage is not free passage. Heave to and bring yourself and your papers over to our ship. I will not ask again.”

As if to punctuate the statement, the gun ports on the side of the other ship opened and its cannon muzzles slid into view as the crews ran them out into firing position.

Cari had been careful to show no aggression, so her guns were unmanned and her crew, mostly unarmed. The other ship would be able to loose several broadsides at the Vengeance before her crew had a chance to respond.

“Mr. Bowcott, heave to and prepare one of the ship’s boats to carry me to the Sultanate ship.”

“You’re not going over there, are you, ma’am?” The first mate asked. “They don’t take well to women officers in the Sultanate. Women don’t fight or have the same rights as they do in the Empire.”

“Nonetheless, I must present myself and our forged letters from the Duke of Charon or they’ll blow us out of the water. Do as I say and be quick about it.”

The first mate nodded and passed the order along to the bosun who started calling out orders to the crew who took in the sails and tied them up against the spars from which they hung. With all the sails taken in, the Vengeance soon slowed to a stop and Cari boarded the longboat to make the journey over to the other ship.

Bowcott sent an appropriate honor guard along including both Stefan and Rodrigo along with the oarsmen crewing the small boat. Cari appreciated the concern her officers had for her safety, though it wasn’t like they could do anything other than stand by her side in the coming negotiation.

Soon she stood on the deck with her two lieutenants waiting under the guard of the Sultanate sailors. Though the common sailors wore similar clothing to that worn by the Vengeance’s crew, the officers wore turbans with silver or gold crests pinned to the front.

A young and probably very junior officer stood before her while they waited for the captain to arrive. He looked to be only a year or two younger than herself. He seemed surprised when she’d introduced herself as the captain of the Imperial ship.

“Will the captain be much longer? I’d rather like to be on my way.”

“You will be patient and wait your turn, woman,” the young officer replied. “His lordship has many important duties to attend to. You would do well to learn your place when aboard one of the Sultan’s ships.”

Rodrigo started forward to say something in response to the insult. She waved him back into place before he said anything they’d all regret. Perhaps it had been a mistake bringing her two hotheaded junior officers along for the negotiations.

She was about to reply to the young man’s response but stopped when a tall, swarthy man in a much larger turban came out on deck. This one sported both a gold crest and a tall red feather pinned to the front of the headdress.

He wore a tunic embroidered in many colors and what looked like gold thread. Below that, he wore baggy white cotton pants gathered at the ankles above gold painted slippers with upturned toes. As with the other armed officers and crew, he carried a curved scimitar at his waist on one side and a smaller curved knife on the other.

The captain stopped a few feet away from Cari. She waited while his eyes roamed her body from head to toe. He had a disturbing leer on his face as he looked her over.

Cari decided to break the awkward silence.

“Captain, I was asked to bring over my papers and bonafides for you to examine.”

The other captain smiled and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. He wore a gold ring on each finger, all of them with different colored stones.

“I had no need to see your paperwork, girl. I merely wanted to see you up close after getting a look at you through my spyglass. I must say I prefer the in-person version.”

The Sultanate captain’s leer returned to his face as he finished talking.

Cari wanted to spin in place and deliver a roundhouse kick with her booted foot to the idiot’s face and knock that creepy grin from it. She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying what she wanted to in reply.

“So, Captain, may we return to our ship now and proceed on our way safely?”

“If you must. Of course, you could always have one of your lackeys attend to your responsibilities while you remain here with me.”

“Why would I choose to remain here, Captain? My duty lies on my ship with my command.”

“A woman has many duties more important than commanding a ship. First and foremost is your duty to please the men who are your betters. If it wouldn’t upset my father, I’d have you held here so I could take you to my bed and satisfy my desire to see you beneath me as another conquest slave for my harem.”

Cari spluttered to find a reply, biting back her initial gut reaction. Her hesitation took her attention away from the situation at hand. It might have ended differently if she’d paid attention to her crew’s response. Rodrigo growled in anger and stepped forward, delivering a powerful open-handed slap to the other captain’s face.

Gasps passed through the Sultanate crew and several guards surged forward, drawing their scimitars and grabbing Rodrigo by his arms before he could back away from the other captain.

Stefan and the two crewmen behind her started forward. Cari knew they could never win a fight with the few people she had with her. This was falling apart around her. She needed to gain control again.

“Hold!” She ordered. “Rodrigo, stop resisting.”

Turning to the other captain, Cari continued to try and defuse the difficult situation.

“Captain, I’m sorry for my lieutenant’s outburst. I will see he is severely reprimanded upon our return to my ship.”

The Sultanate captain had placed a hand against the side of his face and he glared at Rodrigo with something that looked like a combination of shock and anger.

“There is no need to reprimand him, Captain.”

The response surprised Cari.

“That is very generous of you, Captain. I know this has all been a huge misunderstanding.”

“Oh, I think you misunderstand me, girl. There is no need for you to reprimand him. I will see to the proper punishment. He has struck me, a member of the royal family. As such he has sealed his fate. He will be put to death upon our return to Lyden, where he will be hanged, drawn, and quartered in the central square in front of the Governor’s palace.”

Cari blinked, trying to take in everything the man said. “Captain, I’m sure we can come to some agreement. Perhaps a ransom of some kind. I have a small amount of gold on board my ship. Could I not purchase your lenience in this unfortunate matter?”

Cari tried to reach out to her Charm ability. If there was ever a time for it to activate, now would be it.

The other captain paused in thought as if considering her request.

Three words flashed across Cari’s vision. Unfortunately, they were not the words she had been hoping for.

Charm bonus failed

“I think not. In fact, you and your remaining officers will return to your ship and follow me back to Lyden so you may witness what happens to those who refuse to treat members of the Sultan’s family with the deference we are due.”

He turned to address his first officer.

“Take the insolent boy below and prepare him for execution and remove that woman pretending to captain a ship from this vessel.”

He wheeled about and walked back to the door to the cabins at the stern leaving Cari to watch as Rodrigo was shackled and dragged away in the opposite direction.

Armed crew drew their scimitars and pressed Cari and her small boarding party back to the rail. They had no choice but to leave and climb down to their boat below.

As much as it angered her, Rodrigo was lost for now. Cari’s thoughts already spun with plans for how they could affect his rescue, though. Once they reached the city of Lyden, she’d show them who she really was. There was no way she was going to let these savages kill her lieutenant, no matter what stupid thing he did to deserve it.

Determination burned in her eyes as her crew rowed back to the Vengeance. It was time to teach these men from the south a lesson.

The Dread Raider Cari was tired of playing nice.

Quest accepted — rescue Rodrigo

Quest accepted — Kill Captain Rashesh

Chapter 7

Cari sat on the raised platform placed to overlook the palace’s public square. The Sultan’s Royal Governor sat on one side of her, and the captain named Rashesh, who Cari learned was the Sultan’s nephew, sat on the other.

She was keenly aware of how alone and exposed she was here on this platform surrounded by enemies. Her first mate, Mr. Bowcott, stood at the back of the platform, too far away to come to her aid if she needed it.

Of course, that wasn’t part of the plan. His place was exactly where he stood, raised above nearly everyone else in the square. From this vantage, he would be able to see everything happening down below. He was the key to coordinating the entire rescue.

“You, know, Captain Boyle,” the Governor said, calling Cari by the alias she was using. “It is unfortunate we had to meet under these circumstances. I hope you will relay our condolences on the unfortunate loss of your young lieutenant to His Grace the Duke of Charon.”

His condescending tone grated on Cari’s nerves but she had a part to play here. She’d play it well because Rodrigo’s life depended on it. She had to appear unconcerned about what was about to happen. It was essential to keep everyone thinking she didn’t care if they executed Rodrigo or not.

“Frankly,” Cari replied. “The young man has been a thorn in my side since I was forced to take him into my crew. I know I am young to be a captain but I earned that position the hard way and he has been undermining my authority onboard the ship for months now. You are doing me a favor. I get rid of a thorn in my side without offending his influential family.”

Captain Rashesh snorted a derisive laugh. “The first mistake was placing a woman in command at all, let alone on a ship of war.”

“Now, now, my Lord Rashesh,” the Governor replied. “I know you have conservative views, but we must have respect for some of our northern neighbor’s traditions. We will not be at war with them forever. That is why this mission of cooperation between the Sultan and the Duke is so important.”

“Bah!” Rashesh shouted. “You’ll never convince me that a woman is anything but a playmate in bed and a bearer of children.”

Cari hoped no one could hear her teeth grinding together. She wanted to gut that prima donna and watch the surprise spread across his face at what a mere woman could do to him.

The violent image shocked Cari and brought back her fear of becoming callous to the deaths she caused. Cari pushed the troubling thoughts away. Now was not the time to dwell on her demons.

Rashesh misinterpreted the momentary change in expression. “See, I think some pleasant time in my bed might help solve some of your attitude problems, girl. I tell you what. I will forgive the afront to my honor committed by your man if you spend the next twenty-four hours in my bedchambers. What do you say?”

Her worried frown froze in place on her face before shifting to a look of disgust.

Cari fixed him with a level stare.

“Such a thing would only end with one of us disappointed.”

The young nobleman attempted a sneer and started to reply, but something he saw in her eyes must have stopped him. He turned away, putting his back to her and began a new conversation with the person sitting to his left.

That was fine with Cari. It was hard to hold onto her temper when he made comments like that.

“Ah, look,” the Governor said. “The afternoon’s festivities are about to begin. There’s the prisoner now.”

Cari spun in her seat to face front again and scanned the crowded square for what the Governor talked about. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually found the cluster of guards armed with spears and scimitars escorting Rodrigo across the square towards the stone stage at its center. That was where he was to be executed.

The guards had turned their spears sideways and held them in a rough rectangle, creating a sort of moving pen pressing its way through the unruly crowd below. Rodrigo stumbled his way across the paving stones of the square inside the narrow open space created by his guards.

His bruised face showed dried, caked blood around his nose and mouth. He’d been severely beaten while in captivity. Judging from the red stain spreading through the back of his white shirt, they’d whipped him with a lash or perhaps wooden switches, too.

She hoped he’d look upward in her direction so she could smile at him or offer some sort of encouragement. He seemed totally broken and resigned to his fate.

He probably had no idea they were here to rescue him. It tore at her. This was her responsibility. It was the calling of every captain to keep her crew safe.

In that, Cari had failed.

Now people were going to die, undoubtedly soldiers and citizens of this city, perhaps some of her own crew, too.

She stole a glance back at Mr. Bowcott standing at the back of the platform on which she sat. He winked at her and nodded, laying a finger along the side of his nose.

That was the sign.

Everything was in place. The first mate had spotted all the different parts of their plan move into position. They were ready.

She gave him the barest nod and turned back to face the square. As she turned, the first mate moved towards the stairs down from the platform raised for the dignitaries. His part of the plan was in motion.

It was time.

Across the square, Rodrigo and his guards finally reached the stone stage at the center. His hands shackled in front of him, he stumbled to his knees as he was hustled up the steps to the top of the stage. The wooden gibbet and the dangling noose hung just above him when he was hauled up to the stage for the execution.

A hush fell over the crowd as the Governor stood from his seat next to Cari and trumpets blared a fanfare announcing him.

“People of Lyden. We have an unexpected treat this afternoon. A chance to witness the ultimate punishment of an interloper who dared to strike a member of the royal family.”

Shouts of anger erupted from the crowd, and the Governor let it spread and gather in intensity for a few seconds then raised his hands for silence. The noise died down once more.

“Turn your attention to the center of the square. Let the execution commence.”

On the stage, Rodrigo was lifted back to his feet and placed on a wooden stool so his head could be placed in the noose. He stood very still, not fighting against his captors at all.

Cari’s breath caught in her throat as she waited. Timing was everything now: too early, and they’d fail to reach him. Too late and well, she didn’t want to consider that outcome. This would work.

It had to work.

Everything was all up to Stefan and the first mate now.

The hangman took a step back and prepared to kick the stool out from under Rodrigo.

An explosion to the north next to the main gates out to the city sent a plume of smoke and fire upward into the air. The crowd, packed shoulder to shoulder into the square, surged away from the explosion but had nowhere to go.

On the opposite side, another explosion blew a fifteen-foot gap in the courtyard wall forcing people back from it towards the center of the square.

As if in synchronization, which of course it was, a rippling blast of smaller explosions sounded in the wall directly opposite the square from the VIP platform. The group of bombs sent the packed crowd surging towards the Governor’s palace.

Guards at the gates to the palace tried to hold back the press of panicked humanity for a few seconds, then the guards were overrun and the crowd ran into the palace lawn. The packed masses filled the small inner courtyard area as they tried to force their way into the palace itself, blocking the path of the reserve guard units drawn up there to prepare to fight off any foolish rescue attempt.

Cari knew that was what the other guard units were there for. The pompous governor had told her all about it and his plans, probably in an attempt to dissuade her from doing what she was doing.

The old fool.

On the platform full of VIPs, confusion rippled as the dignitaries shouted questions and looked for a safe way down from the wooden platform and bleachers. With all the people passing by, there wasn’t much they could do unless they wanted to mingle with the commoners, which they clearly didn’t want to do.

It didn’t matter anyway.

The charge Mr. Bowcott planted moments before at the back of the grandstand exploded sending the rear section of the bleachers crashing down, carrying the assembled nobility of the city of Lyden with it.

That was Cari’s cue.

Standing, she planted a boot at the small of the Governor’s back, kicking him over the front railing of the grandstand.

She laughed at the total look of surprise on his face while he fell over backward, his arms windmilling to catch his balance.

He failed, crashing head first to the paved ground below.

4,500 experience awarded

Spinning in place, she drew her sword and dagger just in time to square off against Rashesh.

The captain had drawn his scimitar, sweeping it in an upward arc at Cari’s midsection.

She was able to barely parry the blow with her dagger. The curved sword slid away, and she tried a follow-up lunging thrust at his chest.

The scimitar flicked up and batted the tip of her rapier aside then pressed inward to deliver a slicing blow to Cari’s shoulder.

Health damage — health -8

She had never sparred against a scimitar before, and her inexperience showed. Clearly, her opponent was familiar with the usual rapier techniques.

He scored two more slashes against her in rapid succession.

Health damage — health -8

Health damage — health -10

Wincing in pain at the injuries the razor-sharp scimitar inflicted, Cari knew she needed to try something else.

She couldn’t get bogged down in a prolonged fight here. There’d be help coming from the palace as soon as the crowd started to thin between the square and the barracks.

Cari decided to attempt a combination of two of her skills at the same time. She had never tried something like this before, but it should work, at least in theory.

She slipped to one side in a feint, pretending the last scimitar hit caused more damage than it did.

Rashesh took the bait, lunging at her leading feint with his blade held high.

Leaning into the feint to the side, Cari kicked downward and to the right, launching herself in a roll towards and then past the startled Sultanate captain coming up directly behind him.

Ability Combo (Feint and Acrobatic Dodge) — 2x Experience bonus

Rashesh’s scimitar cut through nothing but air, realizing his mistake too late to recover. He twisted to one side in a futile attempt to avoid the attack from behind.

Cari’s lunging stab pierced Rashesh’s left side, the dark red flood of blood confirming she’d struck his kidney. She twisted the blade as she withdrew it hoping to down the man quickly with the additional damage.

Rashesh’s back arched in pain from her strike. He fell to his knees before toppling sideways, bleeding out onto the wooden platform.

16,000 experience

Quest completed — kill Captain Rashesh

10,000 experience

Cari stood and vaulted over the railing to the ground ten feet below. Her first mate was wounded and trying to fend off two scimitar-wielding guards. They wore turbans wrapped around circular helmet caps with spikes protruding upward. These were from the Governor’s personal bodyguard.

She ran forward and hit the closest of the two guards from the side with her shoulder lowered, lifting him from his feet to send him crashing into his companion.

“Run to the rendezvous, Mr. Bowcott. I’m right behind you.”

“But, ma’am —”

“No buts. Run!”

Cari turned and batted aside the blade of the first guard to rise to his feet. She twisted her hand and drew the edge of her modified rapier backward across his throat, cutting his neck open all the way back to his spine.

3,000 experience

The second guard tried to cut at her knees from his awkward position halfway to his feet. She struck downward with her dagger, parrying the half-hearted attack and plunged her sword’s tip through his chest. He fell forward with a gasp.

3,000 experience

Her power-up bonus gauge flashed in the corner of her visual field. She was tempted to engage it and use the additional speed to get to Rodrigo. He was still teetering on the narrow stool with his head in the noose.

She changed her mind. It was time to stick to the plan. She ran towards the center of the square at normal speed.

At the same time, a wagon drawn by two horses raced into the empty square through the hole her crew had blown in the wall to the left.

Helen was at the reins, leaning forward on the bench seat, slapping the leather traces down on the horses’ backs with both hands.

Stefan stood next to her balanced on the edge of the wagon’s bed ready to leap to the raised stone stage and face off against the hooded executioner. The executioner stood there with a double-bladed headsman’s axe. Presumably he’d planned to use it to behead Rodrigo after hanging him.

Helen drove the wagon past the stage, so close Stefan was able to step off onto the stone platform with ease.

He dodged to one side as the huge axe came down at him.

The big blade struck sparks off the stones where it hit.

Stefan landed a glancing blow with his sword and managed to make the executioner step back to avoid a killing thrust.

The big man in the hood must have realized how to best distract his opponent and he kicked outward with his boot, knocking the stool a few inches to the side.

Rodrigo twisted and stretched to his tip-toes to remain in place on the edge of the stool, teetering and almost falling off. Cari breathed a sigh of relief as he seemed to regain his balance enough to stay on the minimal support of the rickety stool.

She pressed herself to run faster, passing the injured first mate as he lumbered towards the wagon.

Stefan pressed his attack to drive the executioner back away from his friend.

“Yes!” Cari cheered as he landed a strike stabbing deep into the executioner’s thigh.

The big man howled with rage and pain and swung his axe in a broad arc at Stefan’s head.

The lieutenant ducked under the blow and lunged forward to drive his sword through the bare-chested brute’s heart.

The man refused to die quickly.

Cari stared on in horror as, in a last dying surge of strength, the executioner, threw his big axe at the base of the stool a few feet away. The double-headed weapon skittered across the stones and knocked the stool out from under Rodrigo’s toes.

“No!” Cari yelled in horror.

Stefan twisted as the stool shifted out from under his friend and planted his foot in the back of the dying executioner, launching himself up into the air.

Letting his momentum propel him around in a circle following his initial twisting motion, Stefan slashed outward with his sword, stretched as far towards Rodrigo as it would go.

Just as Rodrigo swung free and the noose tightened around his neck, Stefan’s blade sliced through the thick rope just above Rod's head. The condemned man fell safely to the stones below.

Cari reached the wagon, vaulting into the back at the same time Stefan pulled Rodrigo to his feet. He yanked his friend into the back of the wagon, helping the weakened man jump down next to Cari.

Helen waited a few more seconds for Mr. Bowcott to reach them and then she slapped the reins down on the horses’ backs.

“Ya, ya! Run you nags,” Helen yelled as the wagon lurched into motion, headed for the gap in the main gate the crew had opened with one of the explosions.

Cari looked over her shoulder.

Behind them, the square was still in pandemonium. Guards from the palace were just filtering through the dense and panicked crowd to reach the grandstand, searching for someone to fight.

Cari laughed. They’d find no one there. They’d made their escape.

Quest completed — rescue Rodrigo

12,000 experience awarded

Chapter 8

Cari jumped down onto the dock before Helen finished reining in the horses. The rest of those packed into the back of the wagon waited until they came to a full stop.

They’d picked up all twenty-two of the shore party’s crew after they raced out of the square. Stopping at three different rendezvous points to recover them on the way to the harbor.

“Get everyone on board the Vengeance,” Cari ordered. “We have to clear the harbor fortifications before the alert reaches them or we’ll have to run past the big guns they’ve got mounted there.”

“Lucky for us the Sultan’s warships are all docked in the Governor’s private harbor on the opposite side of the bay,” Mr. Bowcott added.

“It won’t be lucky for long if we don’t get moving. Hustle everyone aboard, Mr. Bowcott. Make a final count to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind. It won’t be pleasant for them here if we do.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

The first mate started shouting orders while Cari ran up the gangplank. The bosun already had the ship ready to move. Only a single hawser held the vessel in place at the dock and men and women were aloft to let down the sails so they could start moving.

“Mr. Dawkins,” Cari called to the bosun.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“As soon as the first mate confirms everyone’s aboard, get us out of here.”

“Where will you be, ma’am.”

“I’m gonna need some stitches, so I’m headed to my cabin so Helen can sew me back up.”

Helen spoke up from behind her.

“We have more potions recovered from the slaver’s ship, ma’am. Take one of them. I’ve checked them. They’re quite powerful.”

Cari shook her head.

“No, we aren’t out of the woods yet, and we might need them. We’re a long way from Tandon, or anywhere else we can safely resupply. A few more stitched up scars won’t hurt me.”

“As you wish, ma’am,” Helen said.

“Let’s go and see if we can finish so I can be back on deck before we pass by the harbor fort’s guns. I’m nervous about getting by them safely.”

Helen nodded and followed Cari down to her cabin.

———

Rodrigo teetered on the narrow gangplank, wondering if he was going to come all this way after the rescue only to drown after falling off this board between the dock and the ship. A hand reached out, gripped his shoulder, and steadied him.

“Easy does it, Rod. Let me help you.”

Stefan stepped up behind him and relief washed over Rodrigo as his friend helped him up the gangplank and onto the main deck.

“You know,” Rodrigo said. “You could have left me back there. Our little competition would have been settled.”

“Where would the fun have been in that? Sometimes the adventure itself is worth the trouble. Besides, it felt good to take those bastards down a peg or two, don’t you think?”

“I would have been happy to see a few more of those guards who tortured me die. At least you got that executioner. He was the worst of them all. The whole time they beat me, the smile never left his face.”

Behind them, sailors pulled in the gangplank and the first mate called out to the bosun to make way. Orders were called and relayed aloft.

Sails unfurled and caught the afternoon wind coming off the desert to the south of the city. The ship’s rigging creaked as the stays and lines supporting the masts and spars snapped taught.

The Vengeance slipped away from the wooden pier and turned out into the harbor, headed for the mouth of the small bay next to the city of Lyden.

Rodrigo tried to decide if he should return to duty first or go down and change into some fresh clothes first. Mr. Bowcott decided for him.

“Mr. Claridge, assist Mr. Dumont down to the cabin you two share and get him situated there. Once he’s settled, return to the deck and prepare your gun crews for action. We aren’t out of this yet.”

“Yes, sir,” Stefan said, snapping a salute.

“I can return to duty, Mr. Bowcott,” Rodrigo insisted. “I just need to change into something a little less ragged.”

The first mate fixed him with a look filled with a surprising amount of compassion for a man accustomed to the harsh life of a seaman.

“Nonsense, lad. Take some time. It’s easy to see you’ve been through a great deal in the last twenty-four hours. Wait in your cabin. I’ll send Helen down to check on you and tend to your wounds after she’s finished with the Cap’n. If she says you can return to duty after consulting with Cap’n Dix, I’ll send for you. Otherwise, you remain down there.”

“Yes, sir,” Rodrigo replied. He didn’t like it, but he’d learned to take orders, and he knew the man wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The first mate would have Stefan tie him in his bunk if he argued.

“Come on,” Stefan said, taking him by the arm. “We’ll stop by the galley and get you some food to eat. You’ll feel better and return to duty before you know it.”

Rodrigo nodded and let his friend lead him to the steps leading down below deck. As they walked, he came to a decision.

“You know, I think she’d be better off with you, Stefan. You’ve proven yourself to be the better man. I wish you the best.”

“What? Giving up so soon?” Stefan shook his head. “It would hardly be fair of me to let you concede defeat in your weakened condition.”

“But, you won. You rescued me. Not the other way around.”

“That was never the agreement. We agreed to compete for Cari’s attention on a level playing field. How is it fair now that she’s so worried about your survival that she leads a daring rescue to save you. Nope, this isn’t over at all. If anything, I should concede to you. You withstood torture after leaping forward to defend her honor by striking a foreign prince. That alone gives you precedence.”

“It was a foolish thing to do,” Rodrigo said.

“Damn straight it was. What were you thinking?”

Rodrigo laughed and Stefan joined him as they walked down the passageway to their cabin below the quarterdeck.

“I wasn’t thinking. If I had, I would have realized what my actions would force Cari to do in order to rescue me.”

He stopped laughing as his answer took a serious turn. Rodrigo looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing.

“You’ve seen the way the killing weighs on her, Stefan. It’s like every death she causes takes a little part of her soul. She knows it, too. It’s why she doesn’t like to join the boarding parties unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Stefan nodded. There was nothing more to say about it. They both worried about her.

He lifted the latch and opened their cabin door, and stepped back to let Rodrigo enter first.

Rodrigo gave him a quiet thank you and stepped into the familiar confines of their cabin. Stefan entered and closed the door behind him.

“So,” Stefan said. “I suppose we go back to the original agreement and make sure we do everything we can to keep her on board the ship and away from personally taking anyone else’s life.”

“It’s the least we can do. We may not be able to save ourselves, but we can save her.”

“Agreed,” Stefan said, holding out his hand.

The two men clasped wrists and shook to seal their agreement once again.

“Get out of those rags and get in your bunk. Helen will be by soon. It looked like Cari only needed a few stitches, so Helen will be along soon to check on you in a few minutes.”

Rodrigo nodded and started to pull the shredded and torn clothes off as Stefan left him alone in the cabin. A hand drifted up to his neck where the noose had left a scrape of rope burn against his throat.

A chill passed through him at the thought of how close it had been. He owed Stefan his life and he wouldn’t forget it.

Chapter 9

Cari stood and pulled on a fresh shirt before donning her coat. As she twisted, she felt the pull of the stitches Helen had placed to close up her wounds, but the pain was less than it had been thanks to some willow bark tea the woman gave her to drink.

It was an awful, bitter drink but she had to admit it helped with the pain.

“You do good work as always, Helen.”

“I’d be happy not to have any work to do at all, Cap’n.”

“It’s always good to be needed, isn’t it?”

“Not when the need is always cleaning up the mess of a fight. I’d be just as happy to return to the days of dealing with a fever now and then or setting a broken bone for someone who tripped over a bucket on deck.”

“If we can free the raider families being held nearby and get them out from under the Duke of Charon’s control, maybe we can all return to a quieter life.”

“But in order to do that, we have to do more fighting, right?”

“I’m afraid so, Helen.”

The other woman nodded as she closed up her sewing kit and placed it back in her surgeon’s bag.

“I’m afraid there will always be another fight to have. Violence breeds violence. At some point, you have to step back and say there’s got to be another way.”

“I didn’t pick these battles, Helen. Someone has to stop the Duke from his secret conquest to take the Empire for himself. We have to keep going.”

“As you say, ma’am. All it means for me is more stitching to do. That reminds me, I should check in on the Lieutenant. He looked a little battered when we picked him off that scaffold. I’m sure he’ll need some tending to as well.”

“You do that. When you’re finished come up and tell me how he’s doing.”

“Aye, Cap’n. I’ll report as soon as I’m done tending to him.”

Helen left and Cari buckled her belt around her waist, settling the dagger on her hip. She slipped the baldric with her sheathed sword over her head and grabbed her hat. It was time to make sure they escaped this harbor alive.

Reaching the quarterdeck a few minutes later, Cari scanned the ship and then looked out to the open water of the Great Southern Sea beyond the headland that marked the opening to Lyden Bay. All they had to do was pass by the fortifications and cannon mounted on that rocky outcropping and they’d be free to continue on their quest.

Quest accepted — escape the bay

Her hopes that the Sultanate troops manning the fort had not received notice of their daring escape were dashed as the first belches of dark gray smoke billowed out from the gun emplacements on the promontory above the narrow outlet to the sea.

The Vengeance was still out of range and the cannon balls splashed into the ocean hundreds of yards away. Cari thought their firing early a colossal mistake. It gave away their intentions and offered Cari an opportunity to plan a way to evade their guns.

The problem was the fort’s cannons were trained to guard the safe sea lanes in and out of the bay. Any ship that wished to come or go passed right through a potential gauntlet of cast iron and fire.

Unless…

“Percy, fetch my spyglass.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

A few seconds later, the boy passed the telescope into her hands. She slid the extensions out and held the eyepiece up to gaze through it.

Engaging her seamanship and navigation skills, Cari examined the arrows and lines representing currents and winds superimposed on her view. The open channel in front of the fort’s guns was apparently the best, clearest path of travel out of the bay.

Cari shifted her gaze to port, staring at the water beneath the cliffs supporting the fort far above. Rocks and treacherous reefs jutted up from the shallow water there. Even with the tide in, there was no clear passage, at least not one any sane captain would try to navigate.

Yet as she gazed longer at the maze of rocks and reefs, she saw a faint tracing of a green line representing a current leading through them. A glance upward at the sails confirmed her decision. The wind was favorable, steady and coming from the south. Her plan might work, but they were going a bit too fast.

New navigation challenge course marked

“Mr. Bowcott, Mr. Dawkins. Take in a quarter of the sail aloft.”

“Take in our sails, ma’am?” The bosun asked. “Speed’s the only thing that’ll get us past those guns before they shred us to bits.”

“He’s right, Cap’n,” Mr. Bowcott added. “If anything, we should put on more sail, even at the risk of cracking the mainmast.”

“I see your point, but I don’t agree it’s our only option,” Cari said, moving over to the ship’s wheel. She tapped the helmsman on the shoulder. He stepped aside and she took the wheel, gripping the spokes and spinning the wheel to turn the ship to port towards the rocks.

“Take in the sail as ordered, Mr. Bowcott.”

The first mate gulped as he stared at the reefs ahead of them. There was more than one old, decaying shipwreck on the narrow beach at the base of that cliff.

Cari saw them, too, but she shrugged it off. They couldn’t see what she could see.

“Be quick about it aloft,” she ordered. “If we don’t slow down, I’ll never be able to make the turns.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Orders were relayed aloft and the sailors in the rigging scrambled to pull in sail they’d only just let free.

Above them, the fort’s guns bellowed once more. This time, their sudden change of direction caught the gunners by surprise, and the cannon balls splashed down harmlessly all along their previous course.

Percy whistled next to her.

“One of those shots would have struck us for sure, Ma’am. Good thing you changed course.”

Cari spared him a glance and winked at him when he looked up at her.

“At least you trust me, Percy.”

“Always, ma’am.”

Cari returned her concentration to the shoals ahead of her. Her navigational skill showed her the course. Now her seamanship skill came into play. On either side of the twisting path laid out before her, a series of outcroppings and knife-edged rocks jutted up from the sea.

At each turning point, she could see a sort of glowing beacon. Those would indicate either a turn to port or starboard to her as they approached. There was still a good chance of them running aground if she failed to anticipate the markers and turned too late to bring the massive vessel about to each new heading.

“Mr. Bowcott, Mr. Dawkins, send extra crew aloft. We’re going to have to take in and let out sail as we move in quick succession to make this work. Be ready to relay my orders as soon as I give them.”

Both men stole nervous looks towards the bow and the approaching rocks.

“Don’t worry,” Cari said. “There’s a way through there. I promise. Think of it this way, at least we will avoid being riddled with holes by the guns.”

Neither man said a word and Cari smiled. By sailing so close to the cliff, the cannons in the fort above were unable to aim low enough to have an angle on the escaping ship. Of course, that wouldn’t matter if they smashed themselves on the rocks to be dashed apart by the crashing waves.

The beacon in her vision to port flashed and Cari spun the wheel, bringing the ship around.

Nothing this large turned fast, but the current and the receding waves pulled the bow around. The Vengeance slipped deftly between two huge rocks poking up from the shallow sea floor.

“One down, and about eight more to go,” Cari muttered to herself. She was already looking ahead to the next course correction, and she realized they were going too slow to make the turn at the necessary speed to beat the next cycle of waves rolling in towards the cliff.

“Let out some sail on the foremast, Bosun,” Cari called out.

“Aye, ma’am.”

Men and women moved through the rigging above like tiny spiders scuttling along after flies caught in their web.

The ship picked up a little speed and Cari prepared to take the next turn.

This time the beacon to the starboard side flashed in her vision and she spun the wheel in the other direction. At the faster speed, the ship responded quicker and the bow came about, rounding a reef hidden just below the water’s surface, hidden from all but Cari’s enhanced vision.

The fort was directly overhead now, and a booming crash announced the next broadside from the guns above.

Once more, the cannonballs splash harmlessly in the open water of the mid-channel. Each was much more massive than any cannonballs the guns on the Vengeance fired. They would cause a lot of damage if one of them struck home.

Cari forced her attention back to the task at hand. The next course change was coming up a second one followed right afterward. Somehow, she was going to have to zig-zag through there and shoot out the other side.

“Gentlemen,” Cari called out to the bosun and first mate. “I’m not going to have time to call out the orders. You’ll have to judge it for yourselves. As soon as I round the hard turn to starboard, I have to bring the ship back to port while at the same time slowing down to allow us time to come about before going through the second gap in the rocks. Be ready to take in a lot of sail, understand?”

Both of them nodded, and Cari had no more time to plan because the next turn was in front of her. She turned the wheel to starboard and the ship turned, pivoting around the rocks on the right side of the ship.

Orders sounded, and the crew started pulling in sail as fast as they could. Cari spun the wheel back to port. The bow wallowed for a few seconds, as if unable to make up its mind, then it slowly started coming around to port.

Cari winced.

It was going to be terribly close.

A loud scraping crash sounded to starboard and the ship lurched as it continued forward.

The Vengeance moved away from the rocks it struck, shifting back into the channel between the two sides again.

“Percy, run below and check with the ship’s carpenter to see if we sprung any leaks.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

That last one had been too close.

She was through the worst of it, though, having passed through the point that lay closest to the cliff face. Now they moved away from the headland. The rocks were spaced farther apart on this side of the channel.

“Put on more sail, Mr. Bowcott, now we run for it. As we leave the last turn, the fort will get off at least one shot at us. I’d like to present them as short a firing window as possible.”

“Agreed, Cap’n. We’ll be ready to add as much sail as the masts will bear.”

Cari nodded and proceeded to take the next three turns in quick order as the Vengeance picked up speed.

Their increased speed made the final maneuver a bit tricky, but Cari pulled it off with a final turn of the wheel.

Navigation and seamanship bonus achieved

+1 level to each skill

Cari smiled as they shot out from the narrow and seemingly impossible channel at the base of the headland and into the open sea. A final volley of cannon fire came too late as the Vengeance picked up speed and sailed out of range.

They made it.

Quest completed — escape the bay

15,000 experience

They sped out to sea, and Cari called up her stats page and examined her new ship-handling stats while they set a course for the compound holding the raider families.

Name: Cari Dix

Class: Duelist

Level: 11

Attributes:

Brawn: 12 - +2 to hit/damage

Wisdom: 10 - +1

Luck: 10 - +1 to all saving throws

Speed: 22 - +7 defense

Charm: 16 - +4 personal reaction

Health: 84/110

Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 2, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Taunt, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience — 3, Ambidexterity, Seamanship — 3, Navigation — 3

Master Duelist Bonus — Projectile Dodge (50% chance of activation)

Experience: 252,000/300,000

Chapter 10

“I don’t like it, Cap’n,” Mr. Bowcott said, stabbing a finger down on the map. “This takes us directly into the lagoon in plain view of the raider hostage compound and any guards. They’ll see us coming as soon as we enter the inlet. It makes more sense to land a shore party quietly over here and cross this stretch of desert and make the rescue from the landward side.”

Cari shook her head. “That will take an extra day. Even if we arrive at sundown and the shore party marches inland all night, they’ll arrive just before dawn and still have to make the trek back to where we’re anchored. We don’t have time to be fancy with our plans. The Sultanate officials knew our cover story for coming here. They have to figure we still have to deliver our message from the Duke. They’ve got to at least try and look for us here. Our only chance is to strike fast and hard and get away just as quickly.”

“It’s risky,” Helen said as her finger traced the coastline on the map. “Still —”

Cari had come to trust the woman and asked her to come join the rescue planning. She wanted the healer’s opinion on the proposed plan.

“Go on, Helen. I asked you here because I want to hear what you have to say.”

Helen cleared her throat before continuing.

“I was going to say, yes it’s risky. It’s also our best plan if speed is our biggest concern. Cari is right. If we anchor where you propose Mr. Bowcott, and then send more than half the ship’s crew ashore, we’ll likely return to a ship captured by the naval vessels which must be chasing after us by now. There won’t be enough of the crew left to both man the guns and sail the ship in a running fight. They’ll have no choice but to surrender or abandon the Vengeance and take their chances ashore in a strange land.”

She paused, and Cari nodded for her to continue.

“If we plan our attack for the middle of the night, we can enter the lagoon after we send our two longboats ashore first. They’ll land with enough crew on board to remove any guards who might be watching the sea approach. Once they signal the all clear, we sail in, and the rest of the crew disembarks and proceeds with the rescue.”

Stefan smiled and said. “I like it. It has the best elements of both plans, and we’ll be in and out fast enough we won’t get trapped up against the coastline if any pursuers arrive earlier than expected.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Cari said. “Well done, Helen. Your plan is a lot better than the one I came up with.”

“Thank you, ma’am. It seemed like a compromise approach was needed.”

“Agreed,” Cari replied. She turned to her other officers. “If we can rescue these families and return them to the Cairn Islands, we pull the teeth from the Duke of Charon’s whole western strategy. That means we can’t afford to fail here. Our biggest problem is we have no idea what kind of resistance to expect. There have to be some guards, but there’s no reference about how many. I tried to trick the Governor and Captain Rashesh into letting something slip, but they either didn’t know or opted not to share it with me.”

“It can’t be that many,” Rodrigo suggested. “How many guards do you need to watch over a group of women and children?”

“Raider women and children, Rod,” Stefan corrected. “That and the risk the raiders would find them would lead me to station a large contingent of guards here. We should be cautious.”

“There’s a certain caution in boldness,” Cari said. “What I mean is if we strike hard and fast in the middle of the night, they won’t be able to coordinate a response in time to stop us. We’ll be long gone by the time they even know we were there.”

“What plan of attack did you have in mind, ma’am?” Mr. Dawkins asked.

“First, I’ll have you prepare more of those small casks of gunpowder with fuses so they can be used to open any gates or blow a hole in the compound wall if needed. Plus, I have an idea for something from back home called a grenade. I think I can craft at least a few of them from the stores we have on the ship. We’ll also distribute the few flintlock muskets and pistols we have to help hold the harbor against our return. Mr. Bowcott, you will take command of the contingent holding the harbor. The rest of the shore party, led by me, will storm the compound, blowing open any gates or obstacles we encounter. Once we gather the captives, we’ll return to the harbor by the fastest possible route. If we’re lucky, we’ll be back at sea before sunrise.”

“There’s a lot of places for something to go wrong, Cap’n,” Mr. Bowcott said. “Overall, though, I agree with Helen. It’s the best option available given our circumstances.”

“Good,” Cari said. “It’s settled then. By my calculations, we’ll arrive tomorrow after midnight. There should be only a thin crescent moon so we’ll be able to remain hidden until we’re almost to the docks. Everyone set to preparations. Mr. Bowcott, you have the pick of the crew to hold the harbor against our return. After that, Stefan and Rod, you’ll both split the remainder of the shore party into two groups. Stefan, you will engage any guards when we arrive at the compound. Rod, you will be responsible for finding the hostages, rounding them all up, and starting them back to the Vengeance.”

She waited for nods of ascent all around and then stood and clapped her hands together.

“Let’s get to it, then.”

Quest accepted — rescue the Raider hostages

———

“There’re a few more troops here than expected, eh, Cari?” Stefan said as he kicked the Sultanate trooper from his sword blade.

Cari didn’t bother correcting him for using her first name in public like that. She was too busy finishing off another guard with a slashing sweep of her rapier across his throat.

2,500 experience

“Let’s fall back again and regroup at that small market square we passed on the way here. Pass the word.”

Stefan ran off to gather the rest of his team, and Cari turned and rushed down the street towards the harbor. She rounded a corner and cursed. Rodrigo was at the back of the group of women and children, hustling them along. They were moving too slow.

The rippling crack of gunfire sounded from the harbor ahead.

“Damn,” Cari said. “Rodrigo, hurry them up. You hear those guns? That means the first mate is already fighting to hold the harbor for us. We’re running out of time.”

“They’re all in poor health, Cap’n. Most of them can barely walk.”

“Then have your team carry the weakest of them and run if you have to. None of us are getting out of here if we don’t get moving.”

“I’ll do the best I can, ma’am.”

Two sultanate soldiers ran from an alley across the square with swords raised to attack the defenseless hostages.

Cari drew the last of her two of pistols, leveled it at the leading guard, and fired. He fell backward and dropped to the cobblestones.

2,500 experience

She flipped the pistol around in her hand so she could wield it as a club with her off hand and charged at the remaining guard with her sword held high. Behind her, Rodrigo worked to move the hostages faster behind her.

She parried the heavier scimitar to one side with her blade and delivered a crushing blow to the side of the man’s head with the brass-capped base of her pistol stock. His eyes rolled up in his head as his skull caved in under the blow and he crumpled to the ground.

2,500 experience

Stefan and his men and women joined her and formed a thin defensive line across the square. Cari noted the gaps in the line left from the dead crew members left behind on the street between here and the compound. Stefan was down to half of the thirty with whom he’d started.

“We’re almost there, folks,” Cari said. “Then we get aboard the Vengeance and sail away from this place. I figure we need to hold off one more charge then we can make a run for it.”

The glances shared between the remaining crew in the square told her they didn’t think much of their chances to survive another charge.

She tried to think of something else inspiring to say and then she ran out of time.

At the far side of the square, barely fifty yards away a double line of Sultanate troopers stepped out of the darkness of the main avenue. The first line of ten stopped and brought muskets to their shoulders.

“Take cover!” Cari yelled.

The muskets went off as one when the officer yelled fire.

Bullets ripped across the square. When the smoke cleared, three more of Cari’s crew were down, leaking out their life’s blood all over the cobblestones.

The second rank of the troopers moved forward. These were all armed with scimitars and small metal buckler shields, each the size of a dinner plate with a handle attached to the back.

They advanced forward at a quick march, maintaining their line, then the turban-wearing officer beside them shouted something that must mean charge in the language of the southern empire.

With a battle cry, the line surged forward to meet Cari’s rear guard.

Rodrigo pulled out the last two grenades Cari used her crafting skill to create. He pitched them at the charging enemy line, the sizzling fuses leaving a thin gray trail in the air. They each bounced once before exploding in a flash of fire and skin-tearing shrapnel right in front of the charging sultanate troopers.

Four went down right away and two more kept going a short distance, clearly injured, before slowing to drop out of the line of charging troops.

Then the remainder of the Sultanate charge crashed into the ragged line of sailors and Cari found herself too busy fighting to stay alive to care much about what went on around her.

She ducked under a swipe at her head and spun in place, launching a roundhouse kick at the chest of the trooper in front of her. She felt a crunch resonate up her leg all the way to her head as her booted heel caved in the man’s chest with the force of her kick. He fell back gasping for air from lungs that would no longer expand.

2,500 experience

A flash of burning pain came from her back as another trooper slashed at her with his scimitar.

Health damage — health -8

Cari dove forward, tucking and rolling to one knee facing the opposite direction. She brought her rapier up just in time to parry the attacker’s follow-up blow.

The mustached guard growled at her and leaned into the parry, trapping her blade against his as he pressed downward at his kneeling opponent.

Cari used her free hand holding the pistol barrel to swing the brass-capped butt at the guard’s left knee.

The leg buckled inward from the blow as the ligaments tore under the mighty swing.

The guard grimaced and lost his leverage, falling over as his leg ceased to bear his weight.

Cari pressed back knocking him over backward until she lay atop him their swords trapped between them. She raised her free arm and brought it down on his head once, twice, three times, until the man stopped moving.

2,500 experience

She rolled off the body and looked around. Stefan stood over the twitching corpse of the guard officer. The lieutenant’s left arm hung limply at his side. Despite the injury, he gave her a broad grin.

It looked like they were down to eight crewmen still on their feet.

“Let’s pull back while we can still disengage, Stefan. Gather the wounded and head for the harbor. If we wait here and get hit like that again, we’ll never get out of here.”

“What about the hostages?”

“Hopefully they’ve made it by now. All I know is we won’t be able to stop the next charge so it won’t matter anyhow. Pull back.”

Stefan shouted orders and his crew helped the few of their crew lying on the street still alive back to their feet, draping their arms across able-bodied shoulders to help support injured comrades during their escape back to the ship.

Cari brought up the rear, checking to make sure they weren’t caught by surprise from behind. It seemed as though they’d succeeded in fighting off the attack from the compound.

Another ripple of gunfire came from behind her and Cari knew Mr. Bowcott was engaged with another force of some kind. She hoped it was only a small unit set to guard the harbor.

Cari’s hopes were dashed when she reached the small harbor. The gap between the buildings opened up to a pair of wharves bordering the lagoon.

There was a pitched battle going on there. Both Stefan and Rodrigo were struggling to maintain order and keep the sailors of the shore party organized and fighting as a unit. The big surprise though was seeing Helen standing next to the line of sailors armed with muskets.

The healer had a musket herself and put the butt of the stock to her shoulder while she barked an order at the rest of the line.

All the muskets came up, and a second later, they all fired as one into a mass of sultanate soldiers surging forward, trying to get past them to the ship.

The hail of musket fire forced them backward and Helen turned. She barked an order to a line of men standing behind her, also armed with muskets.

They’d just finished loading, and they brought their guns up to fire as the first line filtered back between them to stand about ten feet back where they started reloading.

Again, Helen barked a command and the second line fired into the surging Sultanate troops forcing them back once again.

Cari ran towards the Vengeance with the remainder of Stefan’s troops. She wondered where her first mate had gone.

Helen and her musketeers performed their maneuver twice more until they were back even with the bow of the Vengeance.

Helen turned and pointed to the ship, yelling at the top of her lungs as the angry sultanate troops howled and surged forward again, determined to catch the enemy who’d inflicted such damage on them.

“Fire.”

Cari didn’t understand what Helen planned at first. Then she saw the activity on the bow of the ship.

Gun crews on board had angled the two bow chasers to point down the wharf. As soon as Helen called out her order, smoke and fire belched from the two guns.

Instead of cannon balls, Cari realized they’d loaded a few of the canister shells, basically tin cans filled with musket balls, turning the two big cannons into giant shotguns.

The blast tore into the charging men of the harbor guard garrison. When the smoke cleared, not a one was left standing. The devastation was complete.

Cari shook herself and looked away from the carnage at the end of the wharf.

“Get everyone aboard. Now! Cast off, Mr. Dawkins. Let’s get this ship out to sea.”

“Aye, ma’am,” the bosun called back to her.

Helen joined Cari at the bottom of the gangplank while the remaining crew members ran up it and onto the deck.

“The first mate?” Cari asked, knowing the answer before she asked.

Helen shook her head. “He went down in the first assault on the barricade he’d built at the edge of the harbor square. The crew almost lost the position until I got there and rallied them again. Otherwise, they would have overrun us and taken the ship.”

“You did very well. Where did you learn to do that?”

“My father was an archer with the local militia when I grew up. They trained to move and shoot the same way. I figured it could work for muskets, too.”

“Good work. Get the wounded situated as soon as you can and then come see me on the quarterdeck.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be back up on deck shortly. Do you want to meet in your cabin instead? That wound on your back’s gonna need stitches I fear.”

“That can wait until we’re safely out of this lagoon and back in open water. Just come see me when you’re done.”

Helen nodded and started to coordinate getting the wounded crew members, scattered all around the main deck, down to the infirmary below. Her assistants were already at work, so Helen started below to begin the hard work of putting some of her shipmates back together.

Cari climbed up to the quarterdeck. The helmsman had a bandage tied across his forehead and down over one eye. Blood seeped through the linen to stain the fabric over his wound.

He smiled at Cari when she arrived and nodded as if to tell her he was fine to remain at his post.

Cari smiled back and noticed everyone on the quarterdeck was injured in one way or another. The rescue had been a good deal bloodier than they’d expected.

They’d managed to get the hostages free, though, and all of those who’d survived were safely aboard. It would have been a hard pill to swallow if they’d taken the losses they did and didn’t manage to pull off the rescue.

“Rodrigo, get me a final count of the hostages we rescued. Stefan, I want a list of casualties among the crew, dead and wounded alike. Mr. Dawkins, make sure anyone we send aloft is in a proper condition to do the work. I don’t want an injured sailor trying to do work up there and get injured or killed because we didn’t know they were hurt.”

A chorus of nods and “Ayes” sounded as they all rushed off to fulfill their orders.

Cari returned to her position standing next to the helmsman and watched as she steered the ship back out to sea through the lagoon’s narrow inlet.

“Where to once we’re clear, ma’am?” she asked as she spun the wheel to bring the ship through the final turn.

“Set our heading North-Northwest. We’re heading back home to the Empire.”

Quest completed — rescue the raider hostages

8,000 experience

Chapter 11

Cari scanned to the south with her spyglass. The tops of three ships became visible as they just crested the horizon line in the distance. The triangular sail configuration almost certainly made them Sultanate ships.

For five days, they had seen nothing but open sea. Cari hoped that meant they’d successfully escaped.

The ships to the southeast behind them told her their course north had been anticipated, at least by some in the Sultanate navy. She gauged the wind and currents for a few seconds and shook her head.

Maybe her estimate of their situation was wrong.

“Can we outrun them, Mr. Dawkins?” Cari asked hoping for another opinion to counter hers.

“They’ve got the angle of the wind on us, ma’am. If things continue as they are, they’ll catch us in a day, maybe less.”

“That’s my estimate, too,” Cari agreed. She turned to her new first mate. “Miss Doolan, can we put on more sail?”

Helen shrugged and shifted her feet before answering. Cari knew she was uncomfortable with the promotion, despite earning it with her heroic actions commanding the rear guard during the rescue of the hostages.

“Cap’n, I fear we’ll snap the top of the main mast if we pile on more canvas right now.”

Cari tried to picture their location based on the charts she’d checked down in her cabin an hour earlier. There were few options open to them.

“Helm, change our heading to due west.”

“Aye, ma’am,” the helmsman replied, and she spun the wheel bringing the ship around in a ninety-degree turn.

“Cap’n, there’s nothing west of here but the Maelstrom Shoals,” Helen warned. “We’ll have to slow down to even hope to navigate our way through. They’ll have the range on us with their guns the whole time.”

“Then we’ll have to find a way to either avoid their guns while we escape or get through the shoals faster.”

“Ma’am,” the bosun cautioned. “I know you’ve got some sort of magic you use to navigate the ship, but the Maelstrom Shoals are bigger and more treacherous than a few little rocks at the base of a cliff. The shoals stretch for miles amidst a chain of volcanoes. The lava entering the sea creates a combination of fog and poisonous steam that shifts and flows throughout the whole place. Few ships survive the passage, and no one would try to navigate the passage in anything but calm seas and at a dead crawl.”

“I don’t see how we have a choice, Mr. Dawkins. You said yourself they’ll likely catch us in less than a day if we continue on our present course. We lost half the crew in the hostage rescue so we can no longer both crew the ship and the guns at the same time, crippling our ability to carry on a running battle. They’ll take us with ease with three ships to catch and surround us. No, our only choice is to take our chances with the Maelstrom Shoals.”

The bosun started to say something more, but closed his mouth and nodded.

Cari smiled and said. “I know it’s not a good choice to have to make, Mr. Dawkins, but that’s why I get the big bucks. In the meantime, why don’t you and Miss Doolan come up with a rotating schedule for the next sixteen hours? Make sure each member of the crew gets some sleep and hot food in them so everyone is rested and ready for navigating this obstacle.”

“Aye, Cap’n. We’ll get to it right away.”

“Very well, Percy, join me in my cabin. You can help me check the charts and see if we have anything that might indicate a better option once we get to the shoals.”

Percy bounced over to stand beside her and followed her as she left the quarterdeck for her cabin.

———

The cannonball splashed in the water only ten yards off the port side of the Vengeance. Cari clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms.

They needed another four hours. She’d almost made it to the infamous Maelstrom Shoals before the Sultanate ships caught up with the Vengeance.

Another boom sounded from behind her, and she turned to watch a plume of smoke spout out from the bow of the leading ship of the trio from the Sultanate navy. Her eyes traced the arc of the cannonball.

This was going to be close.

Cari resisted the urge to duck. She couldn’t show any fear or break in her resolve to complete her plan. She needed the crew to believe in her if they were going to make it through the approaching shoals.

“Ware the starboard side,” Cari called out as her eyes followed the cannonball.

Men and women in the Vengeance’s crew on that side grabbed for an extra handhold if they were in the rigging. Those on the deck ducked behind the ship’s rail.

The cannonball struck the side of the Vengeance just below the rail, gouged out a chunk of wood from the hull before caroming off at an angle into the sea.

“Have the carpenter check below for any leaks or injuries, Helen.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

The newly minted officer hurried below to find the carpenter and check for damage while Cari stood resolute in her position by the ship’s wheel.

Stefan climbed up to the quarterdeck and stood beside Cari, watching the ships to their rear gain on them. He leaned close to speak in a low voice.

“The number one bow chaser has been moved to your cabin, Cari. It was a heavy beast, but we managed to get it mounted with the help of the ship’s carpenter. We can fire out from center window of your cabin.”

“Good work, Stefan. Is it loaded?”

“The crew is loading it now.”

“I’m coming down, I want to try something when we take this shot. Mr. Dawkins, you have the helm. Maintain this heading.”

“Aye, ma’am. Maintaining heading,” the boson replied.

Another shot fired from the leading ship chasing after them. Cari knew as they drew closer, they’d become more accurate. It was only a matter of time before they started battering the Vengeance to bits unless she could do the impossible.

Time to test her luck and ability.

Quest accepted — slow the pursuing ships

The four-man crew had just finished loading and prepping their new, heavier stern chaser gun for firing when Cari arrived in her cabin. The bow guns were more massive than the standard broadside cannons. This one could fire a larger ball farther, and that was what she needed right now. Cari’s chart table had been dismantled to make room for the cannon and crew. The assembled charts and log books had all been placed on her bed.

Cari stepped up beside the long-barreled cannon and bent at her waist until her cheek nearly touched the smooth, cold metal of the gun. Sighting along the barrel, she saw the ship behind them move in and out of view with the sea swells.

“Raise the elevation a bit more, Stefan.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

One of the crew took a mallet and pounded on a broad wooden wedge under the front of the barrel. As she hit the wedge, the barrel slowly rose up in angle until it reached the point Cari estimated was the correct one.

This time, when the leading ship behind them rolled into view with the Vengeance’s movement, she saw a green crosshair superimposed over the bow of the target.

She smiled. That was new.

It occurred to Cari that she’d never actually fired one of her guns before. She’d always sent out orders for her crew to follow. She’d missed out on using this extra gunnery ability until now.

As her ship moved in the water, pitching and rolling with the wind and the waves, the crosshairs would waver from green to yellow to red and back again.

Cari was going to have to time this perfectly.

Her hand shot out to the side.

“Hand me the match.”

A rounded wooden handle was pressed into her hand. It was three feet long and ended in a twisted curl of wire which held a length of burning rope coated in tar so it would burn long and slow.

Cari lifted her head a little and brought the match close while she watched the ship behind them and the changing color of the crosshairs superimposed over the view of the lead Sultanate ship.

Catching the rhythm of the ship’s roll and the shifting colors of the crosshairs, Cari let the burning match tip fall to the touch hole of the cannon.

A loud boom and a cloud of gray smoke filled the room. It obscured their view of the ship behind them for a few seconds until the ocean breeze, and their movement cleared the way.

The smoke cleared just in time for Cari to see the cannonball she’d fired sail over the bow of the chasing ship and take a huge chunk out of the foremast. It looked like some giant beaver had taken a bite out of the wood.

“Yes!” Cari yelled.

The mast and rigging twisted and then fell over to one side, dragging the Sultanate ship to starboard as the collapsed sail and rigging acted like a floating anchor, slowing and veering the ship off course.

The other two ships chasing after the Vengeance were all to the starboard side of their leader and now they both had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with the crippled ship.

Quest completed — slow the pursuing ships

4,000 experience points

New skill acquired — Aimed Cannon Shot

“Cari, uh, I mean Captain,” Stefan said, correcting himself. “That was incredible. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.”

“Just needed a woman’s touch, I guess,” Cari replied. “Reload and prepare for another shot, but I think we won’t need it.”

The trailing two Sultanate ships had both lost the wind in their hasty maneuvers to avoid colliding with each other and their crippled sister ship. This should buy the Vengeance enough time to make it to the Maelstrom Shoals before they caught up again.

“I’m returning to the quarterdeck. Be ready down here to take another shot if need be. Wait for my order.”

“Aye, ma’am,” came from all of the gun crew.

Cari spun in place and headed back out of her cabin, returning to the deck above.

Chapter 12

The two remaining Sultanate ships left their crippled sister ship behind and continued the chase, though they remained outside of the range of the chase cannon occupying Cari’s cabin. According to her charts, the Maelstrom Shoals lay a few hours ahead of their current position. Once the Vengeance entered the shoals, the most dangerous part of Cari’s plan began.

“Tell me about the shoals again, Helen,” Cari said. She and the Vengeance’s new first mate stood to one side of the quarterdeck, far enough away from the nearest crew members to mask their conversation. It wouldn’t do to have the crew doubting their captain’s decision to attempt this plan.

“As I told you before, I don’t know much more than legend and rumor. Ninety-nine days out of one hundred, the shoals are masked in fog and mist caused by the turbulent waters, volcanoes, and winds swirling amidst the rocks of the straits. The only ships to ever make the passage have done so on the rare days when the winds die down enough to clear the air and allow for safe navigation.”

Cari considered what Helen said. The rocks and winds amidst the shoals ate ships, chewing them into tiny bits of wreckage and flotsam floating out the other side. The biggest question Cari had was whether her navigational and seamanship abilities would help in the midst of the fog and mist of the Maelstrom Shoals.

A glance to the rear at the ships chasing them had Cari weighing her decision once again. Their crew was depleted. Many were wounded in one way or another following their rescue of the raider families. While they might be up to fighting off a boarding action by one Sultanate ship, they’d never survive an attack from the combined crews of two.

Helen followed her gaze and shook her head, deducing Cari’s line of thought.

“No way we can fight ‘em off, ma’am. Much as I hate to say it, the Shoals are our only shot at getting away.”

“Agreed, Helen. Have the helmsman hold our course. Have the bosun prep the crew as best he can for running through rough waters. If anyone falls overboard on our way through, there’s no way we’ll be able to turn about to fetch them.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.” Helen turned and set off to find Mr. Dawkins so he could make his rounds and ensure everything was shipshape for the passage.

Quest accepted — navigate the Maelstrom Shoals

Looking forward, a smudge of gray appeared on the horizon directly ahead of their course. Bringing her spyglass up and extending the lens, Cari scanned the jagged, smoking peaks of a sunken volcanic mountain range ahead.

The rocks jutting up from the water like teeth stretched north and south as far as she could see. In the center of the rocky islands blocking their path, a cloud of mist and fog showed the location of the Maelstrom Shoals. It was the only gap large enough to accommodate a ship of any size.

Cari shook her head. No luck on getting one of the rare clear days it seemed.

Shouts from the crew in the forecastle and the mast’s foretop told Cari they’d noticed the smudge on the horizon as well and deduced what it meant. The time to test their belief in their captain’s abilities had arrived.

Cari crossed to the helmsman and stood with her hands behind her back, staring straight ahead, assuming what she hoped was a position of calm assurance. As the crew raced around her, following the last-minute orders shouted by Mr. Dawkins and Miss Doolan, Cari raised her voice in an offhand remark to the woman at the wheel next to her.

“It’s a fine day to run the ship through her paces, don’t you think, Katie? Shall we show those Sultanate bastards how a real crew sails their ship?”

“Aye, ma’am,” the woman said, a broad grin appearing on her face. “It’s about time we separated the women from the scared little girls.”

Cari laughed. “Agreed. Steady as she goes. Once we’re in the fog, I’ll take the wheel. Until then, you have the helm.”

———

Boom!

A cannonball splashed in the water to port.

The Sultanate ships had closed again and fired their bow chaser cannons to try and hit the Vengeance before she entered the fog bank dead ahead of them.

“Almost there,” Cari said under her breath, scanning the wall of wind tossed mist and fog ahead of them.

“What, ma’am?” Helen asked from where she stood beside Cari.

“Nothing, just gauging our pursuers’ chances of stopping us before we hit the Shoals ahead.”

Helen glanced over her shoulder.

Boom!

Another cannonball flew past and splashed down to starboard.

“I think if we gave them much longer,” Helen remarked, “They’d be able to sight in the range on us, but we’ll be in the fog within a few minutes. Any last-minute orders, ma’am?”

“No. Just pass the word forward to stand ready on the lines. We’ll only get one chance at this.”

Cari stepped up to Katie at the wheel and tapped the helmswoman on the shoulder.

“I’ll take the wheel, Katie.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari gripped the smooth, rounded spoke handles extending out from the large ship’s wheel. She braced her feet wide on the deck to stabilize herself so she could hold the ship on course against the strong current that had already caught them.

Focusing her vision forward, Cari activated her navigation and seamanship skills. The simple overlay of green and blue vector lines appeared in her vision showing sea and wind currents at play around the Vengeance.

Directly ahead of them, as the bow of the ship entered the mist, a golden trail appeared. It looked like someone had sprinkled sparkling glitter on the small patch of gray-green water she could see through the fog ahead of the ship.

As long as she could keep the ship on that glittering path, they’d be fine. If she veered off either left or right, and they were doomed to run aground and break up among the rocks.

The wind and waves whipped the water to a white-tipped froth as they sailed deeper into the fog.

Boom! Boom!

The Sultanate ships both fired a final shot at their fleeing prey before it disappeared into the fog bank.

Cari heard but couldn’t see the dual splashes that bracketed the ship on either side. She wondered if the Sultanate captains were crazy enough to follow her into the Maelstrom Shoals.

If they didn’t, they’d have to sail several weeks to the north to try and catch her on the other side, provided she and the Vengeance survived the passage.

Cari shook herself back to the task at hand. The golden path ahead of them twisted suddenly to starboard. Spinning the wheel to compensate, she brought the bow around onto the new course.

Helen called out orders forward to Marlin Dawkins so the bosun could adjust the trim of the sails to match their new course with the wind.

The system Cari and the first mate set up worked as planned. The crew hauled on the lines, shifting the ship’s sails to the new course and wind direction.

So far, so good.

Cari barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief because the course ahead of the ship shifted again and she began speaking her course changes aloud, to alert Helen to the new direction as the currents and winds caught the ship and propelled it forward into the Maelstrom proper.

The first time they scraped up against rocks came as she tried to negotiate the fifth turn, executing a zig-zag pattern no sane ship’s captain would attempt under normal circumstances.

Cari cringed as she felt the grinding of the wooden hull against the jagged rocks to port.

“Percy—”

“Aye, ma’am.” The boy scampered off down the ladder from the quarterdeck and headed below to check with the ship’s carpenter, anticipating her order before she could finish it. He’d report back on any leaks or weak points in the hull.

Cari spun the wheel to bring the ship about to starboard but quickly turned it back to straighten their course. The glittering trail had narrowed even more and showed a path dead ahead of them.

The problem she had was with the wind and sea current lines she saw. They ran perpendicular to the ship’s course in opposite directions. The sea would push them to port while winds rocked the ship’s masts over to the starboard side.

It was a recipe that would capsize them if she wasn’t careful.

Looking at the rocks from left to right and seeing the way the current flowed back and forth between them, Cari saw the solution, though she was sure her crew was going to think she was crazy.

“Helen, take in all the sail. Now!”

“Ma’am?”

“Just do it. Trust me!”

Helen barked the orders forward and Cari heard the bosun relaying them to the various crew members in the rigging.

Cari gripped the wheel so hard, both hands ached, but she daren’t let go, even for a second to flex her tired muscles.

She glanced aloft. The sailors furled the sails as fast as they could.

The only hope they had was that their forward momentum carried them fast enough to go all the way through the passage.

It was going to be close.

Cari spun the wheel to port, hoping to catch the rebound current off the rocks to the left. If her plan worked, the opposing currents coming off the stones to either side would both help steer the ship and propel it forward through the narrow gap ahead of them.

Straining her eyes to peer ahead through the fog, Cari could make out the point where the thin ribbon of golden glitter that marked the safe passage widened out again. All they had to do was make it that far.

This was the moment of truth.

Cari, spun the wheel to the left, then right, then back to the left again, catching each of the opposing currents in turn. She felt the ship lurch forward a bit each time she found one of the flows.

Then she missed one.

Groans, as if of pain from the ship’s bones, sounded from the ship’s stressed timbers as they scraped along the rocks to port.

Muffled shouts from below alerted Cari to the quick work of the carpenter and his damage control crew. They must’ve spotted a sprung timber and raced to patch the place where water poured in below decks.

Cari felt the ship’s sluggish response as she made the adjustment to catch the next of the currents that would propel them forward. She hoped the collision and the additional water in the bilges didn’t slow them too much.

The already narrow glitter path grew even tighter ahead of them and then dwindled to nothing signaling the change in the ship’s condition to Cari’s enhanced senses.

She had to chance loosening a few sails to catch enough wind to increase their speed. It was the only way to pick up enough speed to survive the rest of the passage.

They might capsize, but it was their only chance.

“Helen, unfurl the mizzen topsails. Just those.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

The first mate called out the order forward and to the crew in the rigging. Men and women raced up the ratlines to set to work.

The ship immediately shifted, the deck tilting to one side until they all stood braced against a nearly twenty-degree angle to starboard.

The sea to that side rode dangerously close to the rail. Cari adjusted the ship’s wheel a bit to try and compensate without pulling them off course.

A glance forward showed the trail to safety had widened again, though. Now she only had to pull off the last of the turns necessary to make the final twists of the passage.

Sweat beaded on her brow, the stress of the constant concentration on the safe path ahead bringing on the mother of all migraines.

Cari was pressing the limits of her navigational and seamanship skills and it started taking its toll on her.

Health damage — health -12

She gritted her teeth against the pain in her head and turned the wheel, matching the course once again. She was back in the groove and the twisting currents helped push the Vengeance along once again.

Cari made the next course correction.

Health damage — health -12

The shooting pain in her head drove like a spike into her brain. She wanted to close her eyes, knowing the light pouring into them exacerbated the pain.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Cari pulled the wheel around to adjust the course again.

Health damage — health -12

Another spike drove more pain into her, distracting her from her focus for a split second. She snarled in anger and forced herself to return to the task at hand.

More pain came as she made the next course correction.

Health damage — health -12

Peering ahead through a haze of both her agony and the surrounding fog, she judged there were only three more turns to go.

Cari checked her health status.

Health: 62/110

Three more course adjustments wouldn’t kill her, but the pain might make it impossible for her to complete her task. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog shrouding her mind.

Cari spun the wheel once again. Another red-hot spike shot through her consciousness.

Health damage — health -12

Her legs buckled and only her grip on the spokes of the ship’s wheel held her up.

“Cari, are you alright?” Helen’s tone and use of her first name told Cari how worried the first mate must be.

Cari straightened her legs again and stared straight ahead, trying to press on.

“I’m fine, Helen. I don’t suppose you could find a cold compress to put on my neck?”

“Ma’am?”

“Never mind, we’re almost there. I can make do.”

Cari heard Helen bark another order, but she couldn’t make out the meaning of the words even though the first mate stood next to her. The part of her brain that processed words had apparently shut down. How strange, she thought.

The glittering trail ahead flashed red, pulling Cari’s awareness back to the task at hand. She turned the ship again, just in time.

Health damage — health -12

Her vision blackened around the edges when the pain hit this time, threatening to blind her. Cari squinted against the pain, peering forward.

One. More. Turn.

She felt something cold and damp press against her neck. The cold sensation lifted some of the fog encroaching on her mind and allowed her to focus once more.

“Thank you, Helen,” Cari muttered through clenched teeth.

“Not a problem, ma’am. You’ve got this. You can stay the course.”

“Yes. I. Can!” Cari shouted the final word, defying the pain in her head as she made the final course correction.

Health damage — health -12

The Vengeance caught the final current and shot free of the last rocky gap to the open sea on the other side.

The fog cleared away from around the ship, though not from Cari’s mind. In fact, the mist there thickened, threatening to pull her under.

Cari struggled against the urge to fall asleep and give in to the pain’s call. She had to let her weary, overtaxed brain rest. She watched as the ship raced out of the gap and passed through the final portion of the glittering gold path she’d followed.

Quest completed — navigate the Maelstrom Shoals

10,000 experience

Seamanship skill to master status

Navigation skill to master status

The crew let out a resounding cheer as they cleared the Maelstrom Shoals.

Cari forced a grim smile on her face. She’d done it.

Something pulled at her hands, prying them from their white-knuckled grip on the ship’s wheel.

“Let go, Cari. Katie’s got it from here,” Helen said.

“Yes, of course. Perhaps someone could help me below. I think I need to lie down for a bit.”

Helen pulled one of Cari’s arms over her head, pulling her captain close and helping her down the steep ladder to the passage leading to her cabin. In the midst of the haze over her mind, she scanned her personal stats as she stumbled down the passageway to her cabin.

They’d done it. They’d made their escape.

Name: Cari Dix

Class: Duelist

Level: 11

Attributes:

Brawn: 12 - +2 to hit/damage

Wisdom: 10 - +1

Luck: 10 - +1 to all saving throws

Speed: 22 - +7 defense

Charm: 16 - +4 personal reaction

Health: 26/110

Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 2, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Taunt, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience — 3, Taunt, Ambidexterity, Seamanship — Master, Navigation — Master, Aimed Cannon Shot

Master Duelist Bonus — Projectile Dodge (50% chance of activation)

Experience: 286,500/300,000

Chapter 13

It took almost a week for Cari to recover from her exertion during the passage through the Maelstrom Shoals. During that time, they started north with minimal sails aloft while they repaired the damage they took during the run through the rocky straits.

Cari moved about the ship once she was well enough to walk without aid. She found the crew almost deferential to her, treating her with a level of reverence she had not seen in them before the passage.

Cari asked Helen about the crew’s reaction in a private moment in her cabin.

“There was always talk about you being the Lost Princess returned to Fantasma, but for the most part, it was a bit of a joke and a point of crew pride. Now, after what the crew witnessed crossing the Shoals, what used to be a joke is now taken as gospel. The crew believes you are the Lost Princess Cari Dix.”

“What do you believe, Helen?”

Helen met Cari’s eyes and searched them as if seeking some sort of proof there before she answered.

“I don’t know what to think or believe, Cari, but I know you’re the best captain I’ve ever served under. If you’re the Lost Princess returned, as they say, it doesn’t change that. I think that’s the way the crew feels as well. They would’ve done pretty much anything you asked before we crossed through the Maelstrom Shoals. Now, they’ll go to hell and back again on your say so. I’ll be right there with them.”

“That’s good because now we have to take the Raider families back home to the Cairn Island chain.”

“But the Raider captains have put a price on your head, Cari. They’ll sink us on sight. I always thought you’d put the families ashore and send the council of captains a message through a neutral party of their whereabouts. Why do we have to take them directly home ourselves?”

“Because the Raiders are helping to tear apart the Empire and it is my hope we can break the Duke of Charon’s hold on them. Do that and the Western Sea’s merchant lanes return to the peaceful trading routes they used to be. The only people who will stand up to the Duke are those here in the west. With the Raider captains on their side for a change, there might be a chance to wrestle away his hold on the Empress before it’s too late.”

Helen laughed. “If you’re not the real Lost Princess, you sure act like her.”

“I just want to make the world a better place. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it at all, your Highness.”

Helen’s grin spread from ear to ear, and soon the two of them broke into laughter as Cari shook her finger at the older woman. Helen had become one of her closest friends here in Fantasma.

A tap on the door broke through their laughter. Cari called out.

“Come in.”

Percy stepped into the captain’s cabin, followed by Rodrigo and Stefan.

Rodrigo cleared his throat, apparently a little uncomfortable with interrupting whatever had Cari and her first mate laughing.

“Cari, I just came from helping the carpenter and his mates. They’ve finished patching the sprung planks in the hull. He said it will hold well enough, but the ship will need a dry dock eventually to fully repair the damage.”

Stefan chimed in with his report when Rodrigo finished.

“The rigging lines that broke apart during the passage have all been replaced with fresh lines and the bosun has personally checked all replacements to ensure the sails and masts will hold.”

“Good news. We’re finally ready to head north at a better pace than we’ve been using so far. I’ll chart out a new course and bring it to the helmsman. It’s time we were on our way.”

“Way where ma’am?” Stefan asked.

“Cairn Island, Mr. Claridge. It’s time to take these poor people home.”

Stefan and Rodrigo exchanged alarmed glances.

“I know you both are concerned about the reception we’ll receive when we get there. Let me worry about that. I think once the raider families share the lengths to which we went to free them, we’ll get a different welcome from the council of captains.”

“I hope you’re right,” Rodrigo said. “It’ll be a very short journey if you’re wrong.”

Quest accepted — return raider families to Cairn Island

———

Cari caught herself standing with her fists clenched at her sides, each hand gripping a hilt, sword on one side and dagger on the other. She forced her fingers to relax and pulled her hands away from her weapons.

A fifth raider ship had sailed up to join the others escorting the Vengeance into the harbor at Cairn Island. Cari forced a smile on her face as if there was nothing to worry about. She did steal a glance upward to ensure the white flag still flew from the top of the mainmast.

So far, her luck held.

The first raider ship to approach had not fired on the Vengeance, honoring the white flag. The captain had pulled alongside and insisted he and a large boarding party come across to Cari’s ship.

It was a good thing she’d made sure to have all the adults from among the former hostages on deck. One of them rushed forward and threw her arms around the raider captain’s neck.

It was his wife.

“My love, you must honor the truce and assist Captain Cari and her crew. They saved all of us, at great cost to themselves. Many of their crew were lost in the rescue.”

“This woman has hunted down and destroyed several Raider ships, Jackie. I cannot simply let her get away. The council of captains would have my head.”

Cari stepped forward to interrupt the couple.

“Captain, all I ask is you offer us an escort to take us safely to Cairn Island. I have an urgent need to talk directly to the council of captains. If they insist on taking me prisoner after I have had my say, all I ask is that my crew be allowed to leave in peace.”

The black-bearded raider captain eyed her as if he tried to decide if she was crazy, suicidal, or both. He made up his mind at some point and held out his hand.

Cari reached out and clasped wrists with him.

Charm Attempt Successful

“I’m Captain Hitchcock. You are the famous Dread Raider Cari, though I have to admit, I thought you’d be a lot older.”

Cari chuckled. “I get that all the time, Captain. So, you accept my terms? On your honor?”

“I accept your terms. Your crew will be spared, regardless of the decision of the council of captains on your fate.”

Cari heard Helen grumbling under her breath behind her. Her first mate had not liked the plan. She’d expressed her displeasure at length in Cari’s cabin the night before.

In the end, Cari had required the first mate to swear not to mount a rescue. She was to use the safe passage earned under the flag of truce to safely sale away back to Tandon.

Captain Hitchcock nodded at Helen and the rest of the ship’s officers standing behind Cari. “Judging from the looks on the faces of your crew, they are not happy with this arrangement. What is to stop them from failing to uphold your end of the bargain?”

“My crew will follow my orders, even if I’m not here to reinforce them. Isn’t that correct Miss Doolan?”

“We will honor the words of your pledge and your orders to us, ma’am,” Helen said in a loud, clear voice so the whole crew could hear her.

Cari nodded. “Will that suffice, Captain?”

“It will. I will take my wife and children back to my ship and we will proceed to the island. Stay close to me, so it is clear I’m your escort.”

“Will do, Captain. Let us hope all your comrades are as agreeable.”

They’d reached the harbor and the five raider ships each headed to a berth at one of the piers while Cari directed Katie at the helm to head for the one Captain Hitchcock indicated to her from the deck of his ship. He had her dock directly behind his vessel.

Now it was time to test her luck. She’d never given much credence to the importance of luck and hadn’t done much to improve that particular stat. Cari hoped that wasn’t a mistake because luck was what she needed now more than anything else.

Before long, the pier beside the Vengeance was filled with raider sailors and captains. Wives and husbands rushed down the gangplank with their children to rejoin their loved ones on the docks. Cari watched until all the rescued hostages had been reunited with their families ashore.

“Helen, you have the command of the Vengeance until I return. You have your orders.”

“Aye, ma’am. I do have to report two members of the crew who asked to be put ashore here to leave our service.”

“Who?” Cari asked.

Rodrigo and Stefan stepped forward, their weapons at the ready, their few belongings in packs on their shoulders. That answered that question.

“No,” Cari said.

“I’m sorry, Cari,” Rodrigo said. “We are no longer on your crew. We are just private citizens now.”

“Yes,” Stefan agreed. “And, no matter what you say, we’re accompanying you to the council of captains to ensure your safety.”

Cari’s emotions warred within her. Part of her boiled with anger at them for defying her orders. Both lieutenants were needed here aboard the Vengeance, especially if she didn’t return.

Another part of her wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. It would be good to have at least a little backup in what she would soon face ashore.

Rodrigo stepped over to the gangplank and pointed to Captain Hitchcock waiting for them on the dock. “Shall we go, Cari? We mustn’t keep the good Captain waiting.”

Cari gritted her teeth at the smug smile on his face. He and Stefan had found a way around her orders. She vowed to make them pay for disobeying her if she survived to do so.

“Very well, come along.” Cari pushed past Rodrigo and strolled down the gangplank as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Captain Hitchcock, joined by a large group of other captains and raider sailors, waited for her at the bottom.

It was time to see if her plan worked.

Quest completed — return raider families to Cairn Island

4,000 experience

Quest accepted — convince the council to adopt peace

Chapter 14

The seventeen men and women who captained the raider ships in port convened to assemble the council of captains. Now they all shouted back and forth at each other, deeply divided over the issue before them. Cari found it hard to hear or sort out what was being said.

More than one captain pointed at her in the midst of making whatever point they had. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. Cari didn’t even know if the meeting of the council had even officially started yet.

After several minutes of back and forth, the loud bang of a gunshot broke through the shouting, and everyone stopped to look at the center of the assembly hall’s central platform.

A gray-haired man, his long, white beard braided and tied off with red ribbons, stood at the podium with a smoking pistol pointed at the ceiling.

“Sit down you mangy dogs. We’ll never get anything decided with you arguing back and forth like competing fishmongers. Cap’n Hitchcock, you brought this woman here under your protection. It is for you to tell us what business she has here that is so urgent we don’t string her up and sink her ship right now.”

“Cap’n Wheldon, I encountered her vessel headed this way. It flew the white flag, and I was honor bound to offer her escort.”

“Bah! No, you weren’t. You could’ve sunk her right then and there and saved us the trouble of this council meeting.”

“I’m glad I did not, Cap’n. She had my wife and children aboard. She and her crew rescued them from the secret prison where the Duke of Charon sent them. I felt that required me to honor the flag and bring her here. More than half the captains here have now reunited with their loved ones, taken five years ago almost to the day.”

Captain Wheldon fixed Cari with his blue-eyed gaze and she found herself fidgeting under that glare.

This man held a great deal of power here. He’d decide her fate. The other captains would follow his lead.

“So, the Dread Raider Cari is here before me. The most wanted woman in these islands is standing here. You've got a price on your head not just here, but also, I’ve heard, in the lands of the Sultanate now. Today you’re here to petition this council for your life. Tell me, Cari Dix. Why should we spare your life?”

“You misunderstand my intention, Captain. I haven’t come to beg for my life. I’ve come to offer you the return of yours.”

The shouting started all over again at this announcement. Every person in the room yelled their angry retort to her statement, every person except Captain Wheldon. He nodded, a strange sort of smile beginning at the corner of his lips.

“Enough! Let the girl have her say. I, for one, am intrigued to find out how she expects to give me back something I already have.”

The voices of outrage petered out until the room was silent once more.

“Thank you, Captain,” Cari said. “I would be happy to explain myself.” She stole a glance back at the entrance to the council chamber where Stefan and Rodrigo stood flanked by four burly raiders. They’d all been disarmed on their arrival. Her two friends both stood staring back at her, expecting her to find a way out of this mess.

“Five long years ago, an Imperial fleet sailed into your harbor and took possession of many of your loved ones while the Imperial nobleman in charge of the vessels issued a set of demands, demands to be enforced over the lives of your wives, husbands, and children.”

“She ain’t telling us anything we don’t already know,” a female captain with raven black hair shouted. “I don’t need a history lesson.”

“Be still, Rayleen,” Captain Wheldon ordered. “I’m sure she will explain herself in due time. Continue, Captain Dix.”

Cari reordered her thoughts after the interruption and then continued.

“The raider clans had long been at peace with the Empire. You all peacefully traded with the communities on the western edge of the continent. Then you were told to return to the ways of your ancestors and begin living up to the name you hold, all at the behest of a man determined to overthrow the Empire and take it for himself. He fitted your ships with new weapons and made it so few ships could stand up to you in these western waters. I took it upon myself to defend the western coast over this last year because it needed defending.”

“Yes, it is true I’ve sunk many raider ships and killed people who were your friends.”

The shouting started up again. Cari raised her voice and pressed on, standing up straight and proud while she continued. “That is the way it is with war. But I discovered there was a way to stop the raiding and the dying. As soon as I found it, I went to investigate it and located your captive families. With them returned to you, you no longer have to honor the orders of the Duke of Charon. You can return to your peaceful ways. It is my hope that we can begin a new alliance where you join me and those loyal to the Imperial royal line and stop the killing here in these waters.”

“What’s to stop the Duke from returning with his pet Imperial fleet and taking our loved ones again?” Captain Rayleen asked.

“The Duke will be busy trying to take the throne for himself. The Empress isn’t well and her last surviving grandson, while not my first choice, is going to rise to the throne. The Duke tried to kill him once, and he will try again, all to take the Crystal Throne for himself. He won’t be able to divert attention to the fact that you’re no longer raiding the coast under his orders.”

Captain Wheldon leaned over the podium and pointed at her. “You don’t act like you care much for the surviving grandson. Won’t he be just as bad as the Duke? I’ve heard he’s likely to bankrupt the Empire.”

“If you have a better option, I’m all ears,” Cari said. “My friends on shore say because he is the only one to survive, he is the only one who can hold the Empire together after the Empress dies. A war of succession would splinter every province from the central government and create dozens of individual principalities. That is why we must defy the Duke’s wishes. This isn’t just good for the Empire. It is also good for the people of these islands, for your people. Peaceful trade would be the first thing to fail in the face of a war that spread across the whole of the Empire.”

Captain Wheldon started to say something but stopped himself, shaking his head. Maybe he forgot what he was going to say.

Cari didn’t wait for him to remember. She continued leaning hard on her charm bonus in an effort to reach every captain in the room.

“Let me leave here in safety, and I will stop attacking raider ships. I will, instead, attack those Imperial Navy vessels working for the Duke and keep them from returning here to retake your families.”

Charm Bonus Successful

“Well, captains?” Captain Wheldon said, looking to either side at his fellow council members. “Will we grant this woman the right to leave in peace and cease our raiding of the coast and the Imperial merchant vessels in the Western Sea? Those who are in favor, say Aye.”

A large number of “Aye’s” were shouted out from the group. As far as Cari could tell, it was mostly those who’d had their families returned. The other raider captains either hadn’t lost anyone to the hostages or they were just raiding the coast because it was profitable. She had no idea how they’d vote.

Captain Wheldon banged the butt of his pistol down on the podium and called out again. “All those opposed, say Nay.”

Another round of voices sounded. Cari was unsure whether she’d won the vote or not. She didn’t know the captains well enough to count the voices heard.

Captain Wheldon nodded and rapped the pistol down again until the voices and discussion died down again. “I count nine ‘ayes’ and eight ‘nays.’ The ayes have it. Captain Dix will be granted safe passage to leave, and we will cease our raiding campaign against the mainland.”

“Crandall Wheldon!” A tall blonde captain called out. “I want a recount. I think you are siding with the lass because she’s a pretty face. We can live like kings if we continue raiding the coast, especially if the Empire is too distracted to come after us.”

“Are you calling me a liar, Day Ivarson? I was raiding this coast before you were even a glint in your father’s eye. I remember those days. We were hated and feared by everyone. There was no port but this one where we were welcome.”

The old captain stared around the room at the other captains. “If we had storm damage, we couldn’t seek help anywhere. We either limped home to refit here, or we were lost at sea. It was the Empress who extended her hand in peace to us and I believe we’ve been deceived and betrayed so we might work against her interests. For that, I’m truly regretful.”

“I say we go back to being peaceful traders and seafarers. I say we mend the rift that has grown between us and the towns and cities of the western coast and unless you want to challenge my right to lead this council, you’ll go along with me, all of you.”

Captain Ivarson grumbled something under his breath but nodded and sat down. As soon as he did, the others who seemed inclined to disagree sat down as well.

Captain Wheldon turned to Cari. “Captain Dix. You have my leave to return to your ship and continue on your journey. Is there anything you need before you return to sea?”

“I have made several repairs to my ship after our crossing through the Maelstrom Shoals. I would like to take a few days and complete repairs here in your harbor.”

“The Maelstrom Shoals? Is this true?”

“It is,” Captain Hitchcock replied. “My wife saw it with her own eyes.”

Captain Wheldon laughed. “I thought I was the only captain crazy enough to attempt that passage. I must hear this story. You and your crew may remain while repairs are completed on the condition that you and your two companions join me for dinner. I would hear more of how you made the passage safely.”

“I would be happy to join you for dinner, Captain,” Cari said. “I’m not sure there’s much to say about the passage, though. We barely made it through with our lives. As I just said, our ship was damaged in the passage. I will tell you what I can, though, in exchange for the tale of how you did it, too.”

Captain Wheldon smiled. “Deal.”

Quest completed — convince the council to adopt peace

12,000 experience

Level Up!

Chapter 15

Percy showed up at the palatial home of Captain Crandall Wheldon with Cari’s magic bag of holding an hour after the council adjourned. The bag had clean clothes and her personal items inside so she could freshen up for dinner.

“Thank you, Percy. You can go back to the ship. Tell Miss Doolan I’m fine and to begin a full refit here in the harbor. We have permission to remain here in peace.”

“If it’s all the same to you, ma’am, I’ll stay. Miss Doolan already started working on repairs as soon as the word of the council’s decision was received. She told me I was to stick to you like glue and make sure nothing bad happened to you. She said you had a way of finding trouble even though you managed to make peace with the council.”

“Oh, she did, did she? I’ll have to have a few words with her when I get back to the Vengeance.” Cari said as she grinned down at her cabin boy. She wasn’t going to fault her crew for caring about her welfare.

“I still need to get dressed, though, so unless you want to remain here and help me with my corset—”

“No, ma’am. I’ll step outside.”

The deep red blush that filled the boy’s face brought a loud bout of laughter to Cari. When she recovered, she clapped the boy on the back.

“I’ll tell you what. Head over to the rooms across the hall where the two lieutenants are freshening up. Tell them to meet me in the hall in a half hour. We can all go down to dinner together.”

“Aye, ma’am. I guess they’re back in the ship’s company again?”

“Yes, I told them it was either that or I was going to leave them here in the raider stronghold. They were quick to re-enlist in the ship’s crew.”

“It’ll be good to have them back. I don’t think the crew would know what to do without the two of them trying to outdo each other all the time.”

“It does make for an interesting spectacle sometimes, doesn’t it. Now shoo, run along so I can get changed or we’ll all be late to dinner.”

Percy smiled and left her alone in her room to clean up for dinner with their host, Captain Crandall Wheldon. The elderly raider captain intrigued her. Without his leadership, she doubted she’d have carried the day with the council of captains.

While she was grateful for his help, she questioned his motives. She wondered why he stuck his neck out to help her when she was hated by so many of his fellow captains. She’d have to keep her wits about her until she figured out his angle on saving her and her crew.

Cari pondered this while she changed and washed up. It felt good to be in clean clothes. While she prepared for dinner, Cari looked over her stats and her recent increase to level twelve as a duelist.

She had two more attribute points to allot and a skill level to add. Looking over her numbers, Cari decided to add two more points to her Charm attribute. She had found this stat to be very useful lately and figured that continuing to improve upon it was a good idea.

She also increased her new Aimed Cannon Shot skill to level two. She was sure more ship combat awaited her in the future and maybe she could use the increased skill level to improve her gun crews on board the Vengeance, too.

Cari heard voices in the hall outside her door as she finished braiding her hair, tying the end of the braid in a leather thong to keep it together and out of her way.

Pulling the bedroom door open, she met Rodrigo, Stefan, and Percy in the corridor.

“Gentlemen,” Cari said with a nod. “You all look presentable enough. Shall we head downstairs and find out more about our host.”

“You don’t trust him either?” Rodrigo said. “I told Stefan there was something suspicious about him.”

“It was I who told you he was not to be trusted, I believe,” Stefan replied.

Cari held up a hand, stopping the pending argument before it started. “I don’t care which of you came up with the notion first. A healthy dose of skepticism is an important survival mechanism when someone goes out of their way to assist you without any reason to do so. I don’t trust people who stick their necks out for me for no apparent gain.”

Both of her lieutenants glared at each other. They ceased their bickering for the time being, though.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy his hospitality in the meantime. I’ve sent word to Helen to begin a full refit here in the harbor and finish the needed repairs before we continue on our way. They’ve got excellent facilities and craftsmen here to help us. We might as well make use of them.”

“Maybe we should do some snooping around later this evening to see what this Captain Wheldon is up to?” Stefan suggested.

“Let’s not do anything to antagonize our host,” Cari said. “We might be able to decipher his intentions during dinner. Let me see if I can charm him with my wit and intelligence first.” She finished with a laugh and a flourish of her cape.

All three of her companions joined her in the joke, laughing together for a minute, then the four of them turned and headed down to the main dining room where Captain Wheldon waited for them with the evening meal.

The elderly raider captain was already seated at the head of the table when they arrived. He smiled and called them over to sit down with him.

“Captain Dix, please, come join me. Forgive me for sitting down. My knees aren’t as sturdy as they used to be and it pains me to stand for any length of time anymore. I spent a long time behind that podium earlier and I’m paying the price for it now.”

“Think nothing of it, Captain, I completely understand,” Cari said as she walked over to the table and took the chair to Captain Wheldon’s right.

“Please, call me Crandall. There is no need for formality here in my home.”

“In that case, please call me Cari.”

“Cari it is. Perhaps you would like to introduce me to your crew members as well. I met them only briefly in the council chambers, and I confess I have forgotten their names.”

“Of course, Crandall. These are two of my ship’s lieutenants, Stefan Claridge from the Duchy of Tandon and Rodrigo Dumont from the steading Dumont on the western coast.”

“Excuse me, ma’am, steading Dumont is no more. Raiders made sure of that a few years ago.” Rodrigo snarled.

“Rodrigo, apologize to our host. We are his guest and you will curb your tongue and prejudices while we’re here.”

“No, Cari, let the lad speak. For the same reason, some of our captains will continue to bear a grudge against you for your actions against our brethren, it is understandable that your lieutenant carries the burden of anger over the destruction of his home. We must be willing to be honest with each other in order to start fresh and build this new alliance.”

Cari fixed Rodrigo with a stare before she turned back to the raider. “That is very understanding of you, Crandall. In light of that, do you mind me asking you a question about why you championed my cause in the council chambers earlier today?”

“You’ll likely consider me an old fool if I tell you, Cari.”

“I doubt that.”

“It is because of your namesake.”

“I beg your pardon?” Cari asked.

“You are named for the Lost Princess. My family has a connection to her family, even if it is a distant one. My uncle, my mother’s brother, Josiah Barnes, was a captain of a merchant trader plying the Western Sea many years ago. He used to tell me tales of his travels when I was young. Those stories included a tale of how he helped Prince Hal Dix on his journey to save the Empire back in his youth.”

“Your uncle knew Hal Dix?” Percy interrupted, awe in his voice.

“That’s what he always said. He said he helped him escape mage hunters in Morton Creek and transported him and his companions to Tandon where he eventually started his way east to begin the final battle against Emperor Kang.”

“And because of that, you took my side in the council chambers today?” Cari asked. “You’ll have to excuse me if I think that is a bit of a stretch. It would only make sense if you really believed I was the Lost Princess returned to Fantasma after all these years.”

“And what if you were?” Crandall asked. “Would that be such a bad thing? We could use someone like that to set things right again. Someone to do exactly what you’ve done here, setting our hostages free and allowing us to get out from under the thrall of a person like the Duke of Charon.”

“We all think she’s the Lost Princess, too!” Percy blurted out.

“Mr. McShea, that will be enough,” Cari ordered.

Percy deflated at the rebuke from his captain.

“Let the boy be, Cari. I’m sure he means no harm. Besides, it’s not a bad thing for a crew to think highly of their captain.”

“Thinking highly is one thing,” Cari replied. “Believing in fairy tales is another. I’m an ordinary woman who wants to do what is right, and that is all.”

“And part of that is to set things right in the Empire and defeat the Duke of Charon, correct? You made a comment earlier that you support Prince Timron, though you didn’t sound as if he would’ve been your first choice.”

“I’m resigned to it, if that’s what you mean. Sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got,” Cari admitted. She glanced at Stefan and Rodrigo. Cari didn’t think they knew everything about why she disliked Timron so much. They were loyal to the Empire and Empress Kareena while she ruled. Cari didn’t want to poison them against Timron if he was to become the future Emperor. It was best they didn’t know of his treachery or the things he did to help Charon eliminate the rest of his family.

“I’m curious why you’d settle for Timron when the other heir is within your grasp?” Crandall asked her.

“I’m sorry, what other heir?” Cari replied.

“The girl Jake Holley held onto after he sunk the ship carrying the crown prince and his family. She’s the granddaughter of the prince, great-granddaughter of the Empress herself. If I understand the rules of succession, she has precedence over Timron. You might say she’s a lost princess herself,” Crandall finished with a laugh at the irony of the situation.

Cari stared at the raider leader for many long seconds, trying to make sense of what he just told her.

“Captain,” Stefan said. “If what he says is true—”

“Quiet, Stefan,” Cari ordered. “Crandall, how many people know what you just told me? Who else knows of this girl’s existence?”

“The only people who knew about her were myself and captains Holley and Thorne. You killed both of them, so I suppose it is limited to only those present in this room right now. Why?”

“I overheard someone tell the Duke of Charon of suspicions a survivor from that shipwreck existed. I didn’t think anything of it until now.”

“You do know where the girl is, don’t you?” Crandall asked. “You act as if you didn’t know who she was.”

“I know where she is, and you’re correct. I was not aware of who she was. I just assumed she was the child of one of the Bloodletter’s crew or a random captive they kept on board for their amusements. The girl herself wouldn’t speak, and we couldn’t even figure out her name. We just called her ‘Jane’ for lack of a better name.”

“She is the Crown Princess Jacinda, though I believe her family called her Jaycee, so Jane isn’t that far off. If the Duke does suspect she is still alive, then he’ll know you have her or at least that you know where she is. He knew Captain Holley was the one who took the mission to ambush the Crown Prince’s vessel during its secret trip around the coast to the Western Sea.”

“If that’s the case, Cari,” Rodrigo said, forgetting formality and calling her by her first name, “We have to leave immediately.”

Cari was glad he didn’t say more, especially where they had to go. It was better to keep the girl’s location to themselves. There were too many here on Cairn Island who might like to return things to the way they were and cozy up to the Duke to get in his good graces.

She pushed her chair back and stood up.

“I’m sorry to have to eat and run, Crandall, but I’m afraid this information has forced me to change my plans. I had hoped we could remain here and refit, and perhaps re-crew the Vengeance. We lost a lot of good people rescuing the hostages. It seems, however, that we will have to sail with the crew we have.”

Cari turned to her three companions. “Percy, return to the ship and notify Miss Doolan to wrap up any repairs she has started and prepare to sail on the morning tide. Stefan, you and Rodrigo go with him and hit all the taverns in the harbor and round up any members of our crew who may have gone ashore. We need them all back on the ship as quickly as possible.”

“Aye, ma’am,” the three said in concert. They rose and left the dining hall in a hurry, each off to see to their orders.

Cari was left alone with Captain Wheldon at the table.

“If it’s more crew you need, I think I can help with that.”

“I can’t take the chance of taking on anyone who isn’t reliable and trustworthy. Especially not considering what I’ve just discovered. Our mission is of utmost importance once again.”

“There are those I can personally vouch for. You return to your ship. I’ll have at least twenty new qualified recruits for your crew before you’re ready to sail on the morning tide.”

“That would be a huge help,” Cari said. She reached out to clasp wrists with the raider captain.

“If we’re to defeat the Duke, helping put the rightful heir on the throne will go a long way to set things right with the people of the western reaches of the Empire.”

“Agreed. I hope someday I get to return and partake of your hospitality again.”

“I’d like that a lot, Princess.”

“You’re not going to go on about that are you?”

“Let’s not pretend. At least not as long as it’s just the two of us, Cari. I’ve seen the Maelstrom Shoals and survived them, though I was the only one of my entire crew to float alive out the other side. I was young and foolish and thought I could prove myself as a captain if I made the passage. I was wrong. Because of that, my crew paid for it with their lives. I know it is impossible to take a ship through there and survive intact. Yet you did it. Only an epic hero of legend with powers beyond those of an ordinary sailor could have done that. You may pretend you’re not her, but I know the truth.”

Cari’s shoulder’s sagged. She hated owning up to the legend that followed her wherever she went.

“Don’t worry, Cari. Your secret’s safe with me. Others may wonder about who you really are, but most will not be sure. I know there are many bards and balladeers who sing of your return after saving Prince Timron from assassins’ blades. You will not be able to keep the secret forever.”

“I’d like to hold onto it for a little bit longer.”

“As I said, the secret is safe with me. Promise me one thing, though.”

“I’ll try if I am able.”

“If you get the chance to return, do me the honor of staying here once again and tell me more of your exploits in person. I suspect you will have many great tales to tell after you leave here.”

“If I return to Cairn Island, I will happily take you up on your offer.”

“Good. Then Godspeed and safe journey to you, Cari.”

Cari nodded in reply and left the old captain with the remainder of his meal. Her mind swirled with a myriad of plans and ideas. There was so much she had to do, beginning with retrieving young Jane from her foster family in Tandon.

Quest accepted — retrieve the missing princess

Chapter 16

The sun peeked over the eastern horizon outside the Cairn Island harbor. The activity level aboard the Vengeance as the dawn lit the deck might best be labeled as frenzied.

Cari returned to the ship to find significant repairs underway. All the spars on the mainmast had been taken down so all the rigging and ratlines could be restrung. Helen had decided this was the most urgent thing to fix following the hasty emergency repairs after the passage through the Maelstrom Shoals.

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Helen said from beside her. “The carpenter is hard at work below decks on the sprung timbers on the interior hull. A tar-soaked canvas patch has been pulled tight across the outside of the hull where the water pressure against it seals out the water around the damaged area. He assures me this will allow him to make everything almost as good as new.”

Cari gestured aloft where the crew was hoisting another spar up the mainmast to secure it in place in its proper position.

“What about them? Can we depart without a whole mast full of sails?”

“We have extra craftsmen and women from ashore who are all working with the crew to complete the work and put the ship back together.”

“I hope you’re right, Helen. Make sure the bosun is on top of them, so everything is done without cutting corners.”

“Aye, ma’am. Mr. Dawkins has been up with the repair teams all night. He checked in with me a short time ago and seemed pleased with the quality of work.”

A commotion from the dock behind her turned Cari around. A group of several dozen sailors, men, and women had arrived on the pier at the base of the gangplank. Stefan stood there talking with someone while blocking the group’s approach.

Cari walked down the gangplank and saw former hostage Jackie Hitchcock and her husband, the captain who escorted them into the harbor the day before. They saw Cari approaching and stopped talking with Stefan to await her arrival.

“What seems to be the problem, Mr. Claridge?”

“All these raiders claim to be here to enlist in the crew, Captain.

Captain Hitchcock hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the assembled sailors behind him.

“Captain Dix, I received word from Crandall Wheldon you needed a reliable crew you could trust. Every one of these twenty-seven sailors is hand-picked by my wife and me. They all have family members who were rescued by you and your crew, and they all volunteered to join you for as long as you need them.”

Twenty-seven! Cari thought. That was more than she’d hoped for. That would almost return the ship’s complement to full strength.

She grinned and nodded at the raider captain and his wife. “Thank you both. They’ll be a big help filling out the holes in the crew. Lieutenant Claridge, see to getting these people settled and their gear stowed. Once that’s done, get them to work. The First Mate and Mr. Dawkins can help you determine where they’re most needed. I still want to sail on the morning tide.”

Captain Hitchcock peered out over the harbor at the sun cresting the horizon. “Judging by the sun, you don’t have much time. Why don’t you wait until the evening tide and make sure your crew and the shore parties complete the most urgent repairs?”

“I can’t explain why, but I’ve discovered something that is very time-sensitive. I need to be in Tandon as soon as possible.”

“You know best, Captain,” the raider replied. “I hope whatever is so urgent for you works out.”

Jackie came forward and gave Cari a big hug. “Thank you again for rescuing us. I’m glad the council of captains saw their way to let you go free. Now they can start working on repairing our trade routes.”

“It was a closer vote than I would have liked, Jackie.”

“Which is why it is probably best you leave sooner than later,” the woman replied. “My husband wouldn’t say it, but there will be those who’d like to have a go at killing you just because they could say they got the best of the Dread Raider Cari.”

“I’ve had a target on my back before. I’m sure it won’t be any different now.” The last of the new recruits headed up the gangplank. Cari smiled. “I am glad to have new crew members you can both vouch for. I worried about how reliable any sailors I picked up here would be.”

“They will do their work and follow orders,” Captain Hitchcock replied. “As we said, they each feel as if they owe you a personal debt. You’ll be pleased with them, I’m sure.”

“Thank you again,” Cari said. She clasped wrists with the captain and hugged Jackie again then turned and headed back up the gangplank to board the Vengeance.

A shouted voice drew her attention from the far side of the ship.

“Careful hauling on that rope, you fools!” the bosun, Mr. Dawkins bellowed. “We have to peel that patch off slowly to make sure the new timbers and seals will hold.”

The cluster of sailors hauling on the lines that extended over the side slowed their movements and settled into a slower pace.

The bosun called down into the open hatch of the hold. “We’re pulling the patch. How’s it look on your end?”

A muffled reply came from below. Cari couldn’t quite make it out. It must have been a satisfactory answer because Mr. Dawkins waved his hands in a circular motion at the crew on the ropes and they pulled on the lines faster.

Within a few moments, the crew members pulled a tar-blackened square of canvas twenty feet across over the side. It dripped seawater all over the deck, and it was smeared with algae and sea scum from the hull.

The bosun listened at the hatch again and smiled. He caught her looking his way and nodded. “The new patch is holding, ma’am. I’m going aloft now to check on the new rigging. If it passes inspection, I think we will be ready to get underway within the hour. Any further repairs we can complete while at sea.”

“Excellent news, Mr. Dawkins. Pass along my regards to the carpenter and his mates for their hard work. I didn’t think he’d be able to complete the necessary repairs in time.”

“Aye, ma’am.” The bosun raised a hand to his forehead in a brief salute and turned to climb up the rigging to the upper portions of the mainmast where the new spars were being set.

Cari sensed the hustle and bustle of all the activity settle down into more familiar routines. Rodrigo called out to the crew who were loading the last of the supplies from the dock, rolling the enormous casks of fresh water up and onto the deck to be lowered into the hold.

She looked out over the harbor and saw the vector lines of the tides superimposed on the surface of the water. The tide had started to go out. It was time for them to get underway. Anything else that needed doing would have to be done at sea. She wasn’t going to wait any longer. A missing princess waited for Cari to bring her home.

———

“Sail, ho! Off the starboard bow.”

Cari’s head snapped around as the lookout’s voice carried down to the quarterdeck. She could see nothing over the horizon, but the lookout atop the main mast in the crow’s nest would have the advantage until the other ship drew closer.

She turned to order Katie at the helm to turn to port and try to move away from the oncoming ship. She didn’t want to deal with any interruptions to their mission. Cari was about to issue the order to come about when another shout from the crow’s nest drifted down to her.

“Second sail to port.” The same lookout called out the new warning.

Cari grabbed the speaking trumpet from where it hung by the rail, holding the amplification device up to her mouth. She recognized the young man in the crow’s nest as one of the new crew members from Cairn Island. “Can you identify them, Jordan?”

The lookout peered through his spyglass, first to starboard, then swinging around to port.

“Triangular sail pattern, ma’am. I think they’re Sultanate navy.”

Cari couldn’t see the two ships yet, but she had to assume if her lookout could see them, their lookouts had spotted the Vengeance as well. She activated her navigational skill and scanned the lines and arrows superimposed over the sea and sky around the ship.

She shook her head. They had the advantage on her. There was no way to avoid contact with at least one of them.

“Damn,” Cari muttered under her breath. They were only a day out of Tandon. Those ships shouldn’t be this far north. Clearly, the Sultanate captains had their orders to track her down at all costs. She turned and called to Percy. “Mr. McShea, deliver my apologies to the first mate and bosun at interrupting their rest. Tell them we’re likely to encounter two Sultanate ships within the next few hours and we’re going to general quarters.”

“Aye, ma’am. Right away.”

Percy ran off to wake the two officers. Cari had hoped to let them sleep longer. They’d worked around the clock with the repair crews to complete refitting the ship while they were underway. The Vengeance was finally back in good order, and they were about to run her back into battle.

“Don’t worry, Cari,” Rodrigo whispered beside her. “We’re ready for action again.”

The lieutenant had been on the quarterdeck assuming the role of the first mate while Helen got some much-needed sleep.

“I’d hoped the Sultanate navy had given up on searching for us after we ran through the Maelstrom Shoals. They should have assumed we were killed in the passage.”

“I wouldn’t bet against the great “Dread Raider Cari,” Rodrigo replied, his face breaking into a big grin.

“Yeah, well it’s going to be two against one again, and half the crew is untested.”

Rodrigo shook his head. “They’re all accomplished sailors and came with high recommendations from Captain Hitchcock and his wife. I’ve seen them working, and they work as hard or maybe even harder than the rest of the crew. I think a lot of them want to prove their worth to the captain who freed their families from captivity. They’ll hold up under pressure. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right, Rod. Bring us to general quarters and then send someone to wake up your counterpart. I suspect we’re going to need Stefan’s gunnery crews before long. I know he’ll want to run a few more drills while we head into contact.”

“Aye, ma’am.” Rodrigo headed down to the main deck and raised his voice, calling out to the bosun’s mate. “Sound general quarters. Prepare for action.”

Cari listened as the orders passed throughout lower decks of the ship, men, and women scrambling to clear the deck of any loose items while others climbed aloft to man the sails. She scanned the wind and waves once more to judge the navigational options.

“Katie, bring us to starboard and set a heading of North by Northeast. We’ll take on that ship first and make the second one chase us down. Number two will have the advantage to catch us eventually but, with luck, we’ll have dealt with the first one before that happens.”

“North by Northwest, aye, ma’am,” the helmsman said as she spun the wheel and brought the Vengeance onto its new heading.

Cari braced her feet as the ship encountered a few rolling swells coming about. They settled onto the new course, and soon the ship cut through the waves heading directly at the first Sultanate navy vessel.

Quest accepted — Sink the first Sultanate ship.

Chapter 17

“Fire,” Cari ordered.

The starboard broadside cannons all spat fire and smoke outward from the side of the Vengeance, the heavy cannonballs propelled out at the larger Sultanate navy ship.

Stefan pumped his fist in triumph as most of the cannonballs struck home, blasting splinters from the hull of the other ship. At least one of the other ship’s cannons was unseated from its carriage. The bronze barrel flipped backward through the air to crash into a cluster of Sultanate marines, standing ready to board the Vengeance if they could close with their prey. The soldiers scattered but several of them were injured or dead from the impact of the heavy gun barrel.

“Excellent shooting, Mr. Claridge. Now do it again!” Cari knew he didn’t need her encouragement. Judging from the scowl on Rodrigo’s face on the port side guns, the two of them had some new competition in play, and Stefan’s success was tilting the balance in his favor.

Helen noticed the look on the other lieutenant’s face, too. “You’re going to have to do something about the two of them eventually, ma’am.”

“I know. I keep hoping they’ll find something else to do other than continually compete against each other. I don’t understand what keeps them at it.”

“Nonsense, Cari,” Helen said in a quieter voice as she leaned close so the rest of the quarterdeck crew couldn’t hear her use the captain’s first name. “They are still at it because of you. They are trying to get your attention so you’ll pick one of them over the other. Until that is settled, the competitions they come up with will not stop.”

Cari shook her head. “I’m not doing anything to encourage them. I tell them to do their jobs, and that’s all.”

“Which those two see as a directive from you that it’s their actions with their crew responsibilities that will win your affections.”

Cari rolled her eyes. “This is why I want nothing to do with either of them. If they can’t stop fighting with each other over me, I’ll put them off the ship when we get back to Tandon.”

Helen chuckled. “You’ll try.”

Cari shot her first mate a glance and the wry smile on her face told her the woman wasn’t defying her, only making an observation, one that she thought humorous.

A return broadside from the other ship blossomed with a burst of smoke from the guns and Cari waited for the inevitable impact. At this range, it was hard to miss.

“Watch out, Cap’n!” Jordan, the young sailor who’d first spotted the ships called out to her. Assigned to the quarterdeck to help repel boarders, he rushed at her from behind and lowered his shoulder to push her out of the way.

Cari sprawled forward onto the deck, nearly falling over the ladder down to the main deck below. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a broken spar, nearly eight feet long, crash to the deck.

She got back to her feet and scanned the deck, looking for the sailor who’d saved her life.

Two other sailors lifted the spar and its tangle of lines and went to pitch it over the side, clearing the quarterdeck of the wreckage.

As soon as they did, Cari’s tears welled up, and her voice caught in her throat.

Jordan’s sightless eyes stared skyward, a bloody gash to the side of his head where the falling timber struck him as it crashed to the deck.

That could have been her.

Helen knelt to check the young man, who couldn’t be any older than Cari. The first mate reached over and gently brushed his eyes closed and shook her head at Cari.

“Damn,” Cari growled, struggling to replace her tears with anger. Her voice sounded again, surprising her with its clarity and strength. “Return fire, Mr. Claridge. Sink that bastard.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’m working on it.” Stefan ran down the line of guns, spurring his crews to load faster while the damage control teams cleared the wreckage from the last Sultanate volley.

Cari stared forward, blinking away the tears. A rogue swell ahead of the Vengeance caught her attention and distracted her from the sorrow she felt.

“Hold fire!” She called out above the noise of the sea and action on her ship.

Stefan had almost ordered his guns to shoot another broadside. He turned and stared at her, trying to understand why Cari had stopped him.

Cari stood staring at the swell that approached, gauging the superimposed vector lines only she could see. She raised a hand over her head, waiting until the ocean wave pitched the Vengeance to one side, dipping the starboard side toward their opponent.

As soon as they started to roll back to port, Cari brought her hand down.

“Now!”

Stefan turned back to his crews. “Fire!”

Cari jerked her head away from watching their course and tried to see if her plan worked.

The Vengeance’s cannons bellowed once more as the ship rolled back upright. The cannonballs shot outward, angling slightly downward.

They struck the other ship right at the waterline. While one of them might have bounced off the stout timbers of the big ship’s hull, the combination of all the missiles striking home did the trick. A pair of large holes appeared in the side of the Sultanate ship as the massed cannonballs hit home.

The effect was immediate as the sea rushed into the other ship’s lower decks. He began to list to port, causing more water to pour into the open holes in the side of the vessel.

A cheer went out from the entire crew on the Vengeance.

“Nice shooting, Mr. Claridge,” Cari called out.

“It was your call, ma’am,” Stefan replied, his eyes wide at what his captain had done.

Cari saw the expression on his face and grimaced. The awe and adoration she saw were only going to spur him on in his competition with Rodrigo. A glance to the side showed similar emotions playing across the other lieutenant’s face.

“Should I put on more sail and pull away, ma’am?” Helen asked, breaking into Cari’s thoughts. “Or did you want to stay and finish them off?”

Cari turned to scan the faltering Sultanate ship. They now listed so far to port, their guns could no longer fire at the Vengeance. She could break off contact now and they might manage to outrun the other pursuer.

“Yes, let’s get out of here. Hopefully, the other ship will stop and pick up their fellows. That ship is doomed.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Helen called out orders and more crew headed aloft to let out additional sail. Others, under the direction of Mr. Dawkins, cleared the rest of the wreckage caused by the other ship’s cannonballs.

Cari turned and judged the seas behind them and the distant triangular sails of the second ship. If they stopped to lend aid for any time at all, Cari would be able to slip away. She’d put enough distance between them that she could lose them in the darkness of the coming night.

They would make it to Tandon safely after all. She glanced to her side as two crewmen came and carried young Jordan’s body from the quarterdeck. Cari shook her head and corrected herself. Most of them would make it to Tandon, but not all. That would have to be good enough.

Quest completed — Sink the first Sultanate ship

12,500 experience

Aimed cannon shot +1 level

Chapter 18

The second Sultanate ship continued the chase into the evening, but it must have turned about in the darkness of the moonless night. When morning arrived, there was no sign of them.

Repairs were made over the next few days along with the burial at sea of the few crew members who died in the engagement. Cari presided over the ceremony as the canvas wrapped bodies were raised and each, in turn, slid over the rail to drop into the sea and disappear beneath the waves as the ship continued onward.

She wondered which of them was Jordan’s body. She stared over the rail as the last of the dead dropped into the sea. Cari’s emotions warred within her, and she barely managed not to show them on her face. It wouldn’t do for the crew to see their captain show weakness. They relied on her to be strong in the face of adversity and death.

“Miss Doolan, you should get some rest.”

“You could use a break, too, ma’am. We can leave the running of the ship to Mr. Dawkins, here.”

“I’d be happy to take command while you refresh yourself below,” the bosun said.

“You’re right,” Cari admitted. “I’ll be in my cabin. Mr. Dawkins, continue on course to Tandon. We should arrive by the end of the day.”

“Yes, ma’am. Can I have the cook send you something to eat? You haven’t had a hot meal since the battle yesterday.”

“That would be nice, but only if Miss Doolan joins me.” Cari had made sure everyone in the crew got a break to go below and eat something, but she had remained on deck, overseeing the damage repair crews with Helen all night.

Helen swiped a hand through her hair, wiping away sweat from her brow. “I’d like that. I think we both could use a good meal.”

The two women shared a smile and walked together down towards the cabins at the stern. It would be good to sit down.

Helen stopped by her cabin. “Let me slip into some fresh clothes, ma’am. I’ll be along to your cabin in a few minutes. It’ll take Cookie a little while to put a tray together for us.”

“Sounds good. That will give me a chance to change and freshen up as well. See you soon.”

Cari continued to her cabin, pulling the door closed behind her and letting her shoulders sag, feeling the weight of her exhaustion settle on them. Her thoughts turned to the mission that drove her to get to Tandon.

For what must be the hundredth time, Cari silently berated herself for missing the clues that might have told her who the little girl was when she was discovered aboard the raider ship. Part of her knew there was no way she could have known, but another side of her wished the Fantasma game notifications would have given her a hint as to the girl’s identity.

Luckily, she was in about the safest place she could be. Tandon was far from any assassins or threats to the Empress’s rule. No one but Cari and a few of her officers knew who Jane really was. Her foster family and everyone else in Tandon had no idea of who the girl was. Cari wanted to keep it that way as long as possible while she came up with a plan for what to do with the girl once she was retrieved.

Part of her wanted to return the girl to her great-grandmother, the Empress. The argument she had against that had to do with those arrayed against her ever taking her great-grandmother’s throne. Timron and the Duke of Charon would never allow it. Cari was sure both of them would stop at nothing to kill the child if they discovered who she was.

Helen arrived right after Cari had changed into a clean white blouse, followed soon after by Cookie with a tray of food including hot sandwiches with cured ham and cheese. Cari had introduced the grilled cheese sandwich to her crew and it had become a favorite in many variations.

The two women didn’t say much to each other during the meal, probably due to their exhaustion and what little they did talk about had to do with mundane day to day ship’s routine. Helen soon returned to her own cabin and a welcome and well-deserved rest.

After the first mate left, Cari climbed into her bunk. She lay down fully dressed, only taking her boots off first. It had been a long time since she’d slept. She wanted to be rested when she and Helen went into the city to retrieve the child.

———

Percy’s hand on her shoulder startled her, and she bolted upright in her bunk, taking a few seconds to get her bearings. She’d been dreaming of home again, sleeping in her own bed with her parents just down the hall.

“Sorry to wake you, ma’am. The first mate asked me to fetch you. There’s something strange going on in Tandon.”

“Strange how?”

“I think you should see for yourself, Cap’n.”

Cari swung her legs over the side of the bunk and pulled on her boots. Standing, she glanced at the mirror. Her braid needed redoing and she reached up to untie the leather thong wrapped around her hair to fix it.

“Tell Miss Doolan I’ll be right there, Percy.”

“Aye, ma’am.” The boy turned and left her cabin, pulling the door shut behind him.

Cari finished her hair and decided she’d change her clothes later. Curiosity got the best of her, and she headed for the door.

Up on deck, she noticed the ship had dropped anchor and sat just outside the entrance to the harbor of Tandon.

“What is it you wanted me to see, Helen?”

“That, Cap’n.”

Helen pointed at the harbor mouth and Cari stared at it for a long time before she realized what it was she saw. A thick iron chain stretched across the harbor’s opening. Each link in the massive chain must be three or four feet across.

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s the harbor chain,” Helen replied.

“I can see that. I mean why is it blocking our way into the harbor?”

“We’re not sure,” Helen said, gesturing to the bosun who also shrugged. “I have to confess I didn’t know the old harbor chain even existed anymore. The last time it was used was over a century ago when Kang the Usurper besieged the city. I’d always assumed it had been dropped then and left to rust on the floor of the harbor.”

“Clearly that was not the case. Lower a boat, let’s row closer. I see a group of people on the battlements of that small fortification on the headland at the harbor mouth.”

“Aye, ma’am,” the bosun said. He headed off shouting orders at the crew. They had all gathered at the rail, gawking at the strange barrier across the harbor entrance.

“Perhaps I should go,” Helen said. “If there’s some sort of trouble, you’ll be exposed out there in the small boat.”

“We’ll both go. You know the city better than I do, maybe you can help me reason with the guards in that fort to lower the chain and let us in.”

Once the longboat was lowered into the water and the crew selected to man the oars, Cari and Helen climbed over the side and settled onto the bench at the stern where the bosun himself manned the tiller. It didn’t pass her notice that all the men and women on the oars were armed not just with cutlasses but also with pistols shoved into their belts.

“Expecting trouble Mr. Dawkins?” Cari asked the bosun.

“This is mighty strange, ma’am. Better to be ready for trouble than getting caught by surprise.”

“True. Very well, let’s get underway.”

“Shove off,” the bosun called out to the boat’s crew and a few of the oarsmen used their oars to push the small craft away from the Vengeance.

Once they were clear, the oars were lowered into the water and the crew began to pull on them, propelling them towards the harbor.

Cari put the spyglass to her eye and scanned the group of people on the low battlements. Most were in the uniforms of the Duke’s guard, though a few appeared to be civilians, perhaps noblemen acting as officers. She’d learn soon enough. They were making good time. The longboat cut smoothly through the water.

They were about a hundred yards away from the headland and the small harbor fort when a crackle of musket fire sounded from the battlements. Cari looked up in alarm, then breathed a sigh of relief. All the soldiers on the battlements pointed their weapons at the sky.

“I think they’re trying to warn us off, ma’am,” Helen said.

“Why? We aren’t a threat. Keep going, Mr. Dawkins. Let’s get close enough to talk over the sound of the wind and waves. I want an answer to what is going on here. We have to get into that city.”

“Aye, ma’am. You heard her. Bend those oars. Put your backs into it.”

Cari stood, steadying herself against the swells of the sea with a hand on Helen’s shoulder. They’d almost reached the small wooden dock at the base of the fort’s walls when she heard a voice from above call down to her.

“Turn about. We cannot let you land or step ashore.”

A man in a black cloak and tricorn hat leaned over the battlements to shout down at them.

“What is going on?” Cari asked. “We have pressing business in the city.”

“The Duke has ordered the city closed. No one is allowed to enter or leave.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Plague.”

The man’s words set the crew to murmuring back and forth until a sharp word from the bosun quieted them.

Cari’s mind spun with questions. She didn’t know anything about medicine, but she’d studied enough history to know what that meant to a city like Tandon without modern public health resources. It could wipe out a third of the population or more. It could also be cured and future illness prevented if the source of the infection could be discovered.

“What is being done to find the source of the disease?” Cari asked the man in black.

“At first we thought it was caused by rats or other vermin. Now we aren’t sure. I am one of the city’s physicians set here to warn off travelers. I believe it is something to do with the city’s wells. The mysterious illness shows signs similar to what happens when someone drinks contaminated water and the water levels in the wells have dropped to a point lower than ever seen before.”

“Have you tried boiling it?”

“The Duke is trying to implement a plan to clean the cisterns and central wells. I’m not sure it will work.”

Helen laid her hand on Cari’s arm. “I think he’s right, ma’am. I don’t think you can clean the wells here. The problem has to be treated at the source. I had an uncle once who said an underground river flowing from the east fed the wells and springs in Tandon. He worked in the eastern mines as a child. I remember he once said he’d seen the river for himself.”

“Where? Which mines?” Cari asked.

“I think there’s an old silver mine along the coast to the east of here. It’s been closed for longer than I’ve been alive but that is where I think he used to work. It borders a section of the mountains governed by a tribe of hill trolls. He told us the mine fell to an attack by the trolls a few years after he left to work elsewhere.”

Cari turned her attention back to the physician on the battlements above.

“Doctor, can you get word to the Duke?”

“I can. Why?”

“Tell the Duke that I will look into the source of the city’s water supply.”

“And you are?”

“I’m Captain Cari Dix of the Vengeance. Tell him I will try to find out what is causing the problems with the water. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Quest accepted — investigate the silver mine

If Cari had any doubts about her instincts on the source of the problem in Tandon, her game notification put them to rest. It confirmed for her that something unusual and probably sinister was happening here otherwise the quest message wouldn’t have appeared.

“Take us back to the Vengeance Mr. Dawkins. Helen, tell me everything your uncle told you about this mine and the underground river.”

Chapter 19

Helen and Cari scanned the shoreline on the chart. This was a navigational map and didn’t show things on shore that didn’t pertain to travel by sea.

Helen stabbed a finger down on a cove about a day’s travel east along the coast from Tandon.

“This has to be the place. Look how this spine of the mountains extends down towards the coast. That would be a good place to put a mine. Plus, my uncle talked once of how they would fish in a sheltered cove for extra meat to supplement their supplies beyond what the overseers fed them.”

“We’ll find out if you’re right soon enough. We can be there tomorrow soon after sunrise. Let’s get underway. The faster we get there, the faster we can fix whatever’s wrong if this is the source of the problem. We have to get back and fetch Jane from her foster parents.”

“Do you really think she’s a princess?”

“I do, for a lot of reasons. Mostly because I don’t believe in chance. She was kept on this ship by the raiders for a reason. There weren’t any other prisoners aboard. That and the information I got back in Cairn Island all adds up. It’s got to be Princess Jaycee.”

“Maybe if we tell the crew what we’re about,” Helen proposed, “they’ll understand the risks we’re taking by going ashore and investigating this mine.”

Cari shook her head. “No. Right now, the only people who know about the girl’s identity are Stefan, Rodrigo, Percy, and the two of us. Let’s keep it that way. We’ll tell the crew of a great cache of silver hidden in the old mine along with the underground river. That should give them enough motivation to follow along willingly and help us fight anything we run up against.”

“What happens when they get there and there’s no silver?”

“I’ll make sure everyone is rewarded. I’m sure the Duke will have a reward for us if we cure the plague.”

Helen shrugged. “You’re the captain.”

“Yes, I am. Go and select a shore party to join us on this little adventure. Make sure you include Rodrigo and Stefan. They’ll only follow us on their own if we go ashore without them and they’re both useful if it comes to a fight.”

Helen nodded and left as Cari returned her attention to the chart. She made a few calculations and memorized the course she plotted before she rolled up the map returning it to the cabinet beside her desk.

It was time to find that mine.

———

The cove was right where it was supposed to be. Cari effortlessly guided the Vengeance into the sheltered anchorage quickly spotting the cluster of ramshackle buildings set on the cliffs above them. At first, she thought they were deserted, but then she saw a wisp of smoke from one of the stone chimneys. Someone was up there. Maybe whoever it was could help them by answering some questions.

“Gather the shore party, Miss Doolan. Let’s go find out what’s for dinner.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Shouts and orders were relayed, and once more one of the longboats was lowered over the side. Cari was already armed and ready with a sword, dagger, and two pistols, but the bosun had ordered a chest of weapons bought up on deck and was personally handing out a cutlass and pistol to each person who would accompany Cari and the others ashore.

There would be six crew members in all, plus Cari, Helen, Rodrigo, and Stefan. The ten of them made for a tight fit in the small longboat, but they’d make it work.

The water in the cove rippled in the gentle breeze sweeping down from the cliff and out over the water. They didn’t have to go far to shore and the trip was almost pleasant in the secluded spot. Gulls flew overhead and the sunlight on the cliffs made them sparkle and shine.

“This is a good fishing spot, Cap’n,” Rodrigo remarked.

One of the sailors spat over the side and growled. “It would be if there weren’t trolls around waiting to put you on a spit instead of your fish.”

Cari had to tell them what they might face up there. They all needed to know who or what they might be asked to fight.

“That, Westy, is why I brought flasks of lamp oil along,” Helen replied. “Once we get to shore, I’ll pass out a few to each of you along with a torch. We’ll be ready if they show up. Remember to set any trolls alight as soon as you cut them down, so they don’t regenerate.”

The crew of the small boat nodded, and Cari saw both Stefan and Rodrigo shoot glances up at the high walls of the cliffs around them as they headed for the small sandy beach at the far end of the cove.

Helen sat at the tiller and guided the long boat straight in toward the beach until the bow scraped up on the sand. Stefan and two of the sailors at the bow jumped out and started to pull the boat farther up onto the beach.

More sailors jumped to shore followed finally by Rodrigo, Helen and, last of all, Cari. Her boots sunk a bit into the sand as she jumped down from the boat’s gunwale.

Helen had already started handing out the oil flasks and torches from a sack she pulled from the boat. In a few minutes, everyone was equipped and ready to go.

Cari took the lead, following the narrow strip of sand inland until it turned into a twisting, rocky path up the side of the cliffs.

The arduous climb had Cari’s thighs burning before she’d gone halfway to the top of the trail.

“I’m so out of shape,” Cari complained.

“How so?” Helen asked, walking right behind her. The first mate was flushed and sweaty from the exertion of the climb, too, much more so than her captain.

“I used to run cross country sprints back home as part of my training. My swordmaster always said good cardiovascular fitness went a long way in the salle.”

“Why would you run cross country?” Stefan asked. “Why not ride in a carriage?”

“Because people never walked anywhere and it was the only way to get exercise.”

Cari glanced behind her to see puzzled looks on her officers’ faces.

“Oh, never mind. You wouldn’t understand anyway. Come on, we’re almost to the top. Let’s pick up the pace.”

Cari climbed upward faster, smiling at the groans from her crew as they struggled to keep up. Maybe she needed to implement a program of calisthenics for the crew every morning when she got back. It would benefit her and the crew to be in better shape.

Finally cresting the top of the trail, Cari and the others spread out and caught their breath as they looked around. The old mine buildings sat a hundred yards away, most of them built up against the side of the steep hillside where there was a mine shaft opening. Thick wooden timbers framed the entrance to the mine.

“That’s where we’re headed,” Cari pointed at the mineshaft.

“Maybe we should check in at that smaller shack closest to us,” Rodrigo suggested. “The little bit of smoke coming from the chimney indicates someone is home.”

“Agreed, let’s go see who’s home.”

Cari started towards the shack. Rodrigo and Stefan rushed to get ahead of her and reached the door of the small building before she did. Stefan reached up to rap on the door, but Rodrigo lifted the latch and pushed it open, stepping into the shadowy interior.

By the time Cari reached the doorway, Stefan had also entered. She hoped whoever was there would not be too offended by their barging in like that.

It turned out she needn’t have worried. There was no one home.

The smoke from the chimney came from a small, cast-iron stove set in the corner with a tin stovepipe leading up to where it bent in a right angle to a hole in the wall. It must connect with the stone chimney built along the outside of the shack. It appeared the original stone fireplace next to the stove had been sealed up and was no longer used, based on the piles of books and papers stacked there.

“It looks like this is some sort of office, Cap’n,” Stefan said from behind a table next to the stove. He shuffled through the jumbled papers he’d found. “All these point to a series of regular deliveries to the mine via a ship visiting the cove. The deliveries consist of casks of what the ledgers call essence of starwort.”

Helen drew in a sharp breath. “Cari, starwort is a powerful herb with some medicinal properties, but it can be very toxic in all but the smallest of doses. If someone concentrated an extraction of the plant, it could cause effects that would resemble an infectious plague.”

“Does it say where the deliveries originate or who’s sending them?”

Stefan shuffled through some more of the loose papers on the table before shaking his head. “No, it only tracks the deliveries. There’s no record of payment to anyone or any other correspondence. This paper here says the last delivery was the day before yesterday. More than twice the usual number of casks were dropped off.”

“I was hoping there’d be something tying all this back to the Duke of Charon but, as usual, he has managed to keep his nose clean. This reeks of one of his plots, though.”

She was about to start shuffling through the papers herself, in an attempt to find something Stefan missed when a shout of alarm from outside distracted her.

Drawing her sword, Cari lead the other three out the door and back into the afternoon daylight. The six sailors from her crew had drawn up in a line beside the shack with their weapons drawn.

Cari spotted the source of the threat right away. She’d never seen a troll in person before; however, the group of ten eight-foot-tall humanoids with gray-green skin and thick black hair atop their bulbous heads could be nothing else. She rushed to stand beside her crew, sword drawn in one hand and a pistol in the other.

Growls and threatening snarls came from the trolls, but they didn’t advance to attack. Cari took a step forward to stand in front of her shore party.

One of the trolls moved to the front of their group. The huge creature held out his hands, palm outward at his side, keeping them there.

“I think he wants to parlay,” Cari remarked.

“I’ve never heard of trolls doing anything but fighting with humans before,” Helen said. “Be careful, Cap’n. It could be a trap.”

Cari stared into the big round eyes of the leader of the trolls for a few seconds before making up her mind. “I don’t think so, Helen. Stay here and be ready to back me up if needed. I’m going to move forward to chat with the big one in the lead.”

“Cari—” Rodrigo called out.

“I’ll be fine, Rod. I think this is important.”

Cari sheathed her sword and shoved her pistol back into her belt. She placed her hands at her sides, palms facing forward, mimicking the troll’s stance. Taking a few steps forward, she watched the other creature for any sign of treachery.

The troll chief nodded and moved to meet her as she continued forward until the two of them stood facing each other between the two groups.

The big troll spoke first, its voice having trouble with forming the human words but trying nonetheless. Cari struggled to understand.

The words sounded all jumbled and were hard to understand until she tried invoking her Charm attribute in an attempt to improve communication between the two of them.

Charm skill bonus — communication +5

She had never tried to leverage her charm skill like this before, but she was glad to see an immediate improvement in her understanding of what the troll was saying. She would have to remember this in the future.

“…Our shaman told us come. Seek out golden-haired human woman. She is one to free land of blight.”

Now to see if the charm bonus worked both ways. She replied to the troll in a slow clear voice.

“What is the blight you speak of?”

“Very young and very old, all sick. Some animals in forest die. No reason. Shaman say blight come from place where humans once took shiny metal from hole.”

“We are here seeking remedy for same blight to a human city to the west.”

The troll nodded. “Shaman right. You are one we seek. Help us? Hole in hill small. Troll too big.”

He pointed up the nearby hill to the open mine shaft. The opening looked plenty big from where she stood.

“I don’t understand. Why you too big?”

“Main tunnels big enough, yes. Side tunnel to deepest part of hole, no. Too small for troll. We chase other humans inside earlier this day. Cannot follow.”

That was why there was no one else outside the mine. The trolls had chased any people above ground back into the mine’s deepest levels, areas the trolls could not reach.

“I can help you. We seek to stop the same blight. Allies?” Cari extended her hand to the troll.

He nodded but then reached down to pull a stone knife from his belt. She froze and heard gasps of alarm from her crew. Rodrigo and Stefan started forward.

“Hold. No one do anything rash.”

The troll picked up on the tension and slowed his movements. Holding the stone knife in one hand, he drew the blade across his other palm, opening a big gash. Thick green blood oozed out.

Cari understood and pulled her dagger, drawing the razor-sharp blade across her own palm until her bright-red blood flowed as well.

Health damage – health -1

Reaching out, she clasped hands with the troll’s. Her hand slipped against the troll’s as she gripped the leathery green skin, now slippery with both their blood.

A strange warmth flowed from her palm up her arm and into her chest. She didn’t know what it was.

Alliance with troll chieftain achieved.

6,500 experience

Regeneration ability gained. One health point per second regenerated for a max of 60 seconds, one time per day.

The troll nodded and pulled his hand back. Cari noticed the troll’s hand had already healed, a testament to its ability to regenerate.

She glanced at her own palm, smeared with a mixture of green and red blood. To her surprise, the wound in her palm had also closed. There was barely a scar.

“Lead us to the small hole you cannot pass. We will enter and rid your land of the blight.”

The troll nodded and turned to go back to his tribesmen. Cari returned to the shore party.

“We have some unlikely allies it seems,” Cari explained what she’d learned from the troll chieftain.

“I’m not sure we should trust them,” Rodrigo cautioned her.

“We’ll be careful for sure. Our goals align along a common path right now so we’ll cooperate with them. If something changes later, we’ll deal with that then.”

The troll chieftain called out something unintelligible and she turned to see what he wanted. The troll pointed up the hill and started towards the mineshaft.

“Come on, he’s gonna to lead us to the tunnel into the deeper parts of the mine. I hope no one is claustrophobic because it must be a tight fit if the trolls can’t get in there themselves.”

“What’s claustrophobic mean?”

Cari shook her head. “Never mind. Just follow me. We’re going to get to the bottom of this right now.”

Chapter 20

The troll chief left his tribesmen outside the main entrance to the mine and led Cari and her crew inside. They wound through a maze of tunnels deeper and deeper into the shaft until Cari and the others were completely lost. He finally stopped and gestured with his hand to his mouth and ears then pointed around a corner in the passageway.

Cari understood and held a finger to her lips to keep her crew silent. She stepped forward to the corner and peeked around the edge.

A room opened up from the passage, and at the far side, she saw a narrow fissure. A pair of musket-wielding guards stood by the crack. They both appeared tired and bored. Neither of them paid any attention to the opening leading out into the passage back into the mine.

Pulling her head back, Cari put a finger up to her lips cautioning silence again and then held up two fingers, pointing back around the corner.

Helen, Rodrigo, and Stefan nodded. The two lieutenants moved forward to join Cari as they drew their swords.

“Quiet,” Cari whispered. “We can’t let them alert their leaders of our presence. Don’t let them get a shot off.”

The two men nodded and moved up to the corner. They shot each other a single glance then darted into the chamber side by side and disappeared from sight. A second later, Cari followed right behind them.

They didn’t need her help. Both guards were already down and her two lieutenants had moved over to look into the fissure in the wall.

“Nobody else here, Captain,” Stefan reported.

“Watch the entrance and be ready to jump anyone who comes out.”

Cari turned to the troll chieftain. “We’ll take it from here, uh, I don’t even know your name.”

“Chrrrak.”

Cari didn’t think she could pronounce the sound she heard, but it sounded a lot like an old-time vid her dad used to play for her.

“Shrek it is. We’ll get in there and take care of whoever is doing this to your people. Can you and your tribesmen watch over the outside and protect our backs?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ll be back out as soon as we are able.”

The troll nodded and turned away, heading back up the tunnel towards the surface.

“Alright, people, here’s where we earn the big bucks. We’ve got a city to save. I don’t know how many enemies we’ve got down there so let’s be quiet and take our time. Hopefully, we can whittle any opposition down to size.”

Cari pointed to Stefan and Rodrigo. “You two take the lead but go slow and watch for any traps or hidden guards. Helen, you will bring up the rear and watch out for anyone who might get behind us and hit us that way.”

She considered the six sailors who’d accompanied them. Gary was the oldest and most experienced one in the group.

“Gary, you, Westy, Bradley, and Killian will remain here to guard this entrance. There might be others in this warren of mine tunnels. Stop them from coming up on us from behind if you can, otherwise retreat back to us and warn us they’re coming. Francesca and Beau, you’ll stick with me. Be ready to jump in either direction to cover the rear or charge forward to help the lieutenants, alright?”

The duo nodded. The matched couple were the youngest in the shore party, both close to her age. Francesca, a striking dark-skinned woman from some island chain in the southern seas, seemed most certain of herself. She stood calm and still, waiting for the order to move.

Beau, a usually happy-go-lucky character with shaggy blonde hair, shifted back and forth on his feet with nervous energy ready for action. Though they were young, they were also both among the fiercest fighters in her crew and had distinguished themselves time and again in boarding actions.

Cari nodded at the group. “Let’s go.”

Stefan and Rodrigo both lit torches and squeezed through the narrow opening of the fissure and headed down the small passage deeper into the mountain. Cari and the rest followed, leaving the rear guard behind to watch their backs.

They were in more of a system of caverns and caves now and not an area of worked stone with regular walls, floor, or ceiling. As a result, the going was harder for all of them. Cari figured getting even small casks of anything down here must have been a difficult task, requiring a lot of work and manpower. That meant there might be quite a few people down here ahead of them.

At one point, they all had to cross a dark chasm that seemed to go on forever into the depths below them. A narrow bridge of wooden planks only a few feet wide spanned the gap with just a pair of ropes strung on either side to help steady any who crossed.

“Don’t look down,” Stefan cautioned once he’d safely crossed. “It’s better that way.”

Rodrigo followed, then Cari. As she stepped out onto the planks, one of them shifted under her by a few inches making her windmill her arms until she managed to grab the rope next to her.

She found herself leaning out over the chasm staring down into the darkness.

Heart pounding and ignoring the gasps from her companions, Cari managed to get her footing again and stood up on the planking.

Despite her terror at almost falling to her death, Cari tried to put on a facade of bravado. She let out a little chuckle and shrugged. “That would have sucked.”

“Good lord, Cap’n,” Helen said. “Try to be careful. We can’t afford to lose you in here. They’d never let us back on the Vengeance without you.”

The first mate said the last with a wink at the others, attempting to defuse the situation. A few chuckles sounded signaling her humor worked.

“Watch that first step,” Cari cautioned. “The plank isn’t secured.”

The final three in their group managed to cross without incident, and they continued on. The cavern path continued heading down, deeper into the earth and Cari wondered how much farther they had to go.

About an hour later, the sound of rushing water up ahead, along with the flickering of light alerted her they might be close to the end of the journey. Stefan handed his torch to Rodrigo and went on ahead to scout around the bend in the tunnel.

Soon after he left the sound of voices shouting drifted back up the passage over the rumble of the water. They didn’t sound angry, so Cari was pretty sure they hadn’t discovered Stefan. She strained her ears to try and understand what the voices said, but it was too muffled by the other sounds in the cavern.

Stefan picked his way back up the path to them and joined the rest of the group in a broader part of the tunnel.

“Around the bend there it opens up into a huge cavern. I couldn’t see the far side in the darkness. A river runs through the center, though from the exposed high-water marks on the banks, it clearly used to have a greater flow than it does now. I think I know why.”

He drew a crude map in the loose sand of the passage floor. “They’ve built some sort of dam at one end of the cavern to hold back most of the water, diverting the flow through a series of pools. That appears to be where they’re dumping the contents of their casks. There are about twenty assorted humans, orcs, and goblins down there. They’re all busy working to dump the latest load of casks into the river pools.”

Cari looked at the map, trying to visualize what Stefan described in her mind. She pointed to the end where he’d marked the dam’s position.

“What about the dam? Is there a way to open it or cause it to fail?”

Stefan’s brow creased in thought. “It’s made of rock supported by timber braces. I suppose if you could knock out a few of the braces, the rest would give way under the weight, but you’d never get it done without the workers noticing.”

“What if we distracted them with an attack at the far end of the cavern? What then? I’m looking for an opportunity to sneak one or two of us to the right to the dam while the other four go left and launch an attack from that end of the cavern.”

“What, take on twenty of them with just six of us?” Helen asked.

“Four,” Rodrigo corrected the first mate. “Two will be heading to the dam to take out the supports.”

“Cari,” Helen said, using her first name in an unusual display outside of a private setting. “I know you’ve got some kind of magic mojo you can use during a fight to do a lot of things but four of us taking on twenty is a bit more than we can handle. What if we send back to Gary and the others back in the mine. They could even the odds?”

“It’ll take too long,” Cari replied. “We need to do this now. The plan is to stop them from opening any more casks of the Starwort solution and hopefully flush the whole river system with the release of the dam.”

“If we’re not careful,” Rodrigo added. “We’ll get flushed down the river, too. I don’t want to die on the end of a sword down here, but I like the idea of drowning in the dark of an underground river even less.”

Cari pointed to the area of the map in the sand where their passage opened into the cavern. “Is it higher in elevation here than in the rest of the cavern?”

“Yes,” Stefan replied.

“Then, after we start the attack, we fall back here and make a stand in the narrower portion of the passage. That makes it harder for them to bring their superior numbers to bear. Once the dam is released, the others can hit anyone still willing to fight from behind and we’ll finish the last of them. I’d like to take a prisoner or two. It would be nice to have someone who might be able to corroborate my belief that the Duke of Charon is behind this plot against Tandon.”

“Let’s survive the initial assault,” Helen suggested. “Then we’ll see if we can catch any prisoners.” She crouched and looked down at the map and then up at Cari standing next to her. “Who goes where?”

“You and Stefan will take on the dam supports. You both are the closest thing we have to an engineer. If any of us can figure out how to take them out, you two can. Rodrigo, Francesca, Beau, and I will provide the distraction you’ll need to start your work once you figure it out.”

“How will you know?” Stefan asked.

“You’ll have to come up with some sort of signal for us to begin. We’ll stay near the cavern mouth and hide while we watch for it.”

“I know,” Helen said. She held up the small powder horn she carried for reloading her two pistols. I’ll light a small pile of this gunpowder with my flint and steel. It won’t explode, just cause a sudden flare in the darkness. No one will see it unless they’re looking that way.”

“That should work,” Cari agreed. “I think we have a plan. Let’s get going.”

The group moved forward down the passage and turned around the bend in the tunnel. As Stefan had described, the large cavern opened up before them. There were torches here and there beside each of the three small pools along the track of the narrow river. The torches were tied to long poles jammed into the sandy floor of the cavern, so they flickered at about head height.

There was plenty of shadowy areas, especially near the entrance where they were. Cari pointed left in the direction where she could barely see the dam in the dim recesses of the cavern.

Stefan nodded, and he and Helen started to work their way along the cavern’s upper edge toward the far end and the dam. Cari and the others crouched behind an outcropping of rocks beside the tunnel entrance and watched their comrades’ progress.

Soon, Cari could no longer see her friends. They’d disappeared completely in the shadows of the far side of the cavern.

“Beau, watch the area around the dam for the flash of light from the first mate.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Rodrigo slid over next to Cari while she peered over the rocks at the people working below.

“I suppose you have a clever plan for us, right?”

“Rod, honestly, I’m making this up as we go, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I think we can pull this off. When Beau sees the flare, we’ll charge down into the cavern making as much noise as we can.”

She pointed at a small ledge near the bottom of the path to the cavern floor.

“We’ll stop there and prepare a pistol volley at the first group to come and engage us. After that volley, we’ll finish off any survivors and then retreat back up the path to this location. This is where we’ll make our stand.”

“I wish we’d thought to bring along the muskets from the guards back in the mine. We could’ve used the extra firepower here.”

Cari shook her head. He was right, but there was no sense in worrying about might-have-beens. They’d make do with what they had. Each of them had at least one pistol. Cari had two. That gave them five shots, which, if she planned their use carefully, could help them take out a quarter of their opposition in one volley.

Cari’s hand fell to her belt pouch and she felt the ceramic flask of oil she’d stuffed in there when Helen handed them out. She’d forgotten about it when they discovered the trolls in the region weren’t their enemies.

“Molotov cocktails,” Cari muttered.

“This is hardly the time to think about alcohol,” Rodrigo replied.

“It’s not a drink, it’s a weapon. Everyone get out the oil flasks the first mate gave you.”

Cari took her dagger and cut a strip of cloth from her cloak, stuffing it into the flask to soak it in oil then pulling it part way out and replacing the cork stopper.

“These can be used as homemade grenades, small fiery explosives that might help us win this fight. Everyone make your own, now. We don’t have much time.”

While the others followed her orders, Cari lit one of the torches and laid it on the ground behind the rocks, out of sight. The fire at the head of the torch sputtered some when it touched the ground, but it stayed lit.

“The first one back to this point picks up the torch and lights their flask. Then pass the torch to the next person until all the flasks are lit. We’ll throw them at the feet of those chasing after us. The ceramic will break and, if it works as intended, spray the flaming oil all over the attackers.”

Understanding dawned on the others’ faces as they heard her plan. They set their flasks down near the lit torch, careful not to put them too close to the open flame.

Her plan came together and her team was prepared to carry it out. All that remained was to get the signal from Helen and Stefan.

They’d use their pistols and the burning oil to do as much damage as they could. After that, it would come down to cold steel.

That was fine with her, she was perfectly alright with using her blades to fight her way through this. It was where she was most comfortable in a fight.

“Cap’n,” Beau hissed.

Cari snapped her head around just in time to catch the ending sparks of the gunpowder flare out of the corner of her eye.

“That’s the signal. Everyone ready?”

Nods from the others brought a smile to her lips.

“Good, then let’s go.”

Quest completed — investigate the silver mine

12,000 experience

Quest accepted — clean the poison from the river

Chapter 21

Cari stood, a pistol in each hand, and let out a yell. “Get ‘em. For Tandon and the Empress!”

She followed the battle cry with a whooping holler that sounded a little frenzied and insane in her ears. The shouts of the others echoed as they ran down the path into the cavern right behind her.

It didn’t matter how crazy she sounded. Her primary concern was, what would the workers at the bottom of the cavern do.

She needn’t have worried. As soon as her group launched their attack, the closest of the cavern’s occupants set their casks of poison down and drew their weapons.

The first two groups to come at them merged into one cluster of seven. They shouted, brandishing their swords and axes as they ran toward Cari and her small party.

She reached the small ledge and knelt down, leveling both pistols to point down the slope at the advancing enemy. Her crewmates settled in position on either side of her with Rodrigo to her left and Francesca and Beau to her right.

“Wait for my order. Make it count!”

The first cluster of men and women charging up at them consisted of two orcs, a goblin, and four humans, including two women and two men. None of them slowed as they crested the rise and charged at their attackers waiting on the ledge.

Cari waited until they were only ten yards away before she gave the order.

“Fire!”

The five pistols fired as one, the lead balls punching outward and slamming into the charging enemy.

Both of the ones Cari aimed at dropped and two of the others beside them fell to the ground as well. They’d managed to cut down more than half of the first group.

2,500 experience awarded

2,500 experience awarded

The next group of ten or so gathered by the river basin at the bottom of the cavern floor. They were too far away to worry about right now.

“Finish them,” Cari called out.

She threw down her pistols and drew her sword and dagger. Her sword met the haft of a descending hand axe wielded by one of the orcs. He was huge, nearly seven feet tall.

The force of parrying the blow shook her entire body and she struggled to slide the axe to the side along her blade while she brought up the dagger with her other hand and plunged it into the bulbous belly of the heavyset orc.

Cari twisted the dagger and pressed inward, trying to do the most damage she could. She must have hit a vital organ. The orc spasmed once and fell to his side, clutching at the gaping dagger wound in his stomach.

3,000 experience

Cari turned to help her comrades, but they’d finished off the final two attackers. Shouts from below told her the rest of the work party was on their way.

The crack of a musket sounded an instant before a bullet whizzed past her head.

“Back to the upper position.”

“Cari, we have time to reload,” Rodrigo countered.

“No, we’re too exposed here, and they have some muskets. Back to the rocks and the oil flasks.”

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him with her. Francesca and Beau were already running ahead of them. Beau’s hand was pressed to his side. He must have been injured in the initial fight.

Two more gunshots sounded from behind them, and a bullet ricocheted off a boulder next to her. The shouts of anger grew closer and she knew without looking back the remaining cavern workers chased close behind them.

Francesca waited with the torch in one hand and a flask of oil in the other. The cloth wick was already aflame. She dipped the torch towards Beau, and he lit his flask.

Cari picked up a third flask and Rodrigo the fourth and final one. They each lit their wicks from the torch and turned to face the angry mob charging up the hill behind them. In the lead was a man in a tailored uniform coat with gold buttons on the lapels and cuffs, a fine rapier in his hand.

He was apparently the one in charge.

Cari aimed her flask at his feet. Her aim was true, but at the last instant, the man jumped in the air, hopping over her flaming missile. It crashed to the ground, missing the leader but spraying burning oil all over the two charging behind him. They fell to the ground writhing as the burning oil did its job.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Screams followed as the others threw their Molotov cocktails down at their attackers. In all, their makeshift grenades knocked out six more attackers.

The remaining seven charged in and Cari was once more caught up in the melee of a close-quarters fight.

She tried to angle towards the leader, but he shifted to the right and charged in at Beau and Francesca.

Cari found herself facing a pair of goblins armed with barbed spears. The longer weapons thrust in from either side and she batted the initial attacks away.

Her opponents showed they were used to attacking in tandem and they coordinated their attacks on her, driving her backward until she was pressed up against the cavern wall.

The first attack broke through when she tried to dodge to the side and her foot slipped on loose gravel, making her stumble.

The spear thrust in and slashed open her side, the barbs causing even more damage as the goblin pulled his weapon back for another strike.

Health damage — health -10

Health damage – health -6

A snarl of laughter came from the second goblin when he saw his companion’s spear come back bloodied. He slashed downward with the broad blade of his spearhead, trying to catch Cari off balance.

She brought up her sword, barely batting aside the attack. Her dagger parried the follow-up thrust from the first goblin.

Cari needed to land some attacks so she could engage her speed power-up skill. Her small force was outnumbered, and it was obvious they would lose unless she did something to even the odds. She wasn’t even sure if it would be enough.

Francesca and Beau were both down. She couldn’t tell if they were dead or just unconscious. Rodrigo was engaged in the fight of his life against both the leader of the work party and the last of the orcs. If Cari didn’t come to his aid, he’d be cut down, too.

Growling deep in her throat to push down the pain from the wound in her side, Cari surprised her two attackers by diving forward, managing to get under their thrusting spears.

Twisting from side to side, she thrust first left and then right with her sword. The power bar inched upward in her vision as both blows landed, wounding her attackers.

Cari pressed her advantage now that she was inside the longer reach of the spears.

Divided, the two goblins struggled to back away from Cari and bring their longer weapons around to bear on her.

She sprang at the goblin attacking from the right, driving forward with two attacks using both sword and dagger. She batted aside the haft of the spear and lunged, plunging her dagger into the goblin’s chest.

2,500 experience

She heard a chime warning her of the incoming attack from the other goblin. She ducked while rolling to the left, as a broad spearhead sliced through the air occupied by her neck only a second before.

The final goblin recovered quickly though, pulling his spear back in time to block the thin blade of her rapier, using the spear shaft as if it were a quarterstaff.

Spinning the spear around he punched forward with the butt of the spear. The metal cap on the end of the spear shaft cracked against Cari’s right knee, buckling it as shooting flares of pain shot up from her leg.

Health damage — health -18

Cari stumbled backward in an awkward recovery, trying to assess the amount of damage to her knee. Fresh pain flared as she put weight on it, but it held her up for the time being.

She recovered her composure and checked her power-up status. The gauge was nearly full. Perhaps two or three more successful attacks and she could activate her burst of speed.

The spear thrust forward at her face and Cari dodged to the side, parrying with her dagger. She lunged in a follow-up attack despite the injury to her knee, a move that caught her opponent by surprise.

The point of her rapier slipped past his ribs and into his heart. He dropped his spear and clutched at the steel embedded in his chest, falling to his knees and then toppling to the side.

2,500 experience

An anguished cry from behind her caught her attention as she finished off the goblin. It was Rodrigo’s voice.

Spinning around on her good leg, she saw Rodrigo collapse under a flurry of blows from the spiked club the orc wielded.

Cari charged forward without thinking, a half-limping lope down the path. She shouted a challenge at the two attackers standing over her friend.

The orc turned just in time to raise his club and parry her first attack.

The leader in the tailored coat used the moment her blade was engaged to thrust past her guard before she could bring the dagger around.

Health damage — health -12

Cari grunted at the stabbing pain, feeling blood start to drip down her side beneath her shirt.

The next thirty seconds was a blur as Cari backpedaled while trying to block the dual attacks raining down on her.

How she managed to parry or dodge them all, she didn’t know. She did know the odds were against her. Eventually one of them would land a blow.

Both opponents were excellent.

She’d be hard-pressed to take one of them on in a fight, let alone both at once.

It called for a bit of desperation as she checked her power bar once more. Just a single attack should fill it and she’d be able to engage her speed attack.

In order to get that attack in, she had to open herself up to one of her foes. She decided to feint towards the leader, leaving an opening for the orc to slip past her.

As the orc moved in to take advantage of the perceived opening, she twisted and thrust her sword blade upward into the orc’s throat. He let out a gurgling cry as blood spurted from his severed arteries.

Her power-up bar flashed in the corner of her vision at the same instant the orc’s dying blow landed, the spiked club crashing into her right shoulder.

She felt the bone in her upper arm break, the pop resonating up into her chest as it snapped under the crushing blow. Her dagger fell clattering to the ground as her arm dropped useless to her side.

Health damage — health -20

Pain from her shoulder eclipsed the pain in her knee and side. She felt the ends of the splintered bone grind against each other each time she moved or shifted her weight.

The final attacker snarled when he saw her falter and drop her dagger. He saw his advantage and drove in at her with several attack combinations that kept Cari from launching her own attack and activating her speed burst.

He was fast, too. Faster than her.

As Cari’s back reached the cavern wall and she had nowhere else to go, she dug deep, pushing past the pain and concentrated on her special ability.

And with a familiar chime in her head, everything slowed down around her. Her opponent’s eye’s widened in surprise as she launched her own combination of attacks, lunges, ripostes, and slashes, each faster than should be possible.

It was his turn to stumble backwards, and Cari had to admit she was impressed when he managed to parry most of her attacks.

She got a few minor slashes past his guard. He was bloodied in several places. None of them was enough to kill him.

Her speed timer ticked down in the corner of her eye and Cari knew she had to hurry. If she didn’t manage to finish him off before the timer hit zero, he’d be able to recover and kill her without any problem during her recovery period.

She’d never encountered anyone who could match her speed during her special ability boost and she wondered if some sort of magic was at play.

She had only five seconds left to finish him, and her coordinated moves turned to attacks of desperation.

As her timer ran out, Cari lunged past his guard and stabbed her sword deep into his thigh, high up near the groin. She hoped to sever the major artery there.

Time ran out. Cari sank to her knees, wincing as her injured knee flared with agony. The renewed injury left her toppling to her side to land on her injured shoulder, new lightning flashes of additional pain searing her whole right side.

The leader staggered backward, attempting to staunch the flow of blood in his thigh. Somehow, he managed to keep upright and the tall man in the fancy coat limped forward to stand over her.

“You’re her, aren’t you? The famous Cari Dix.” He sneered down at her. “He told me you would likely come to stop my operation here. And, despite my efforts to remain hidden, here you are, cocking up my plans.”

“Who?”

“Oh, who warned me about you? His Grace, the Duke of Charon did, of course.”

Cari had to stall, to keep this man talking until she recovered.

Her eye on the recovery timer in the corner of her eye, she smiled.

“How is the Duke? I’m sure he’s more than a bit pissed at me by now. I keep showing up to mess up his plans.”

The man laughed. “To say he’s merely pissed off doesn’t do justice to how he feels about you. Let’s just say, there’s a sizable price on your head, at least there was. I’m about to claim it.”

“Are you sure?” Cari gasped, trying to catch her breath as her strength started to return.

He laughed again but didn’t say anything else. He drew back his sword and raised it overhead for the killing blow.

Cari tried to move, to scrabble like a crab backward across the uneven floor but the combination of her power-up induced fatigue and her injuries betrayed her.

A crashing boom rang out across the cavern followed the by the sound of rushing water.

The man turned to see what it was and his eye’s widened. He looked back at Cari.

“How did you—”

Cari raised herself up on one elbow and smiled at him. She saw the rushing wall of water rush past below them on the cavern floor, flushing out the pools of poison feeding the underground river.

“Did you think I was alone?”

Shouts came from around the edge of the cavern wall, calling out for Cari.

The man glanced down at her and shook his head.

“I’ll get another chance at you. Something tells me you’ll turn up again. Until then.”

He raised his blade in salute and then limped as fast as he could up the slope and out of the cavern into the tunnels beyond.

Cari slumped back to the ground, staring at the jagged ceiling above her as Helen’s frantic voice drew closer.

She activated her new regeneration ability and felt a flow of warmth throughout her body from the infused troll blood.

They’d done it. They’d cleansed Tandon’s water supply.

Quest completed — clean the poison from the river

15,000 experience awarded

Chapter 22

Cari sipped from the canteen and handed it back to Helen. A check of her health levels showed she’d regenerated almost back to normal. That would have to be good enough for now.

Her shoulder and knee were still sore, aching as the bones and ligaments knit back together. She’d recover, though.

“What about the others?”

Helen looked over her shoulder at where Stefan knelt tending to Rodrigo, who groaned under the pressure applied to bind his wounds.

“Rodrigo and Francesca will survive, though I think she’ll lose her eye from a wicked slash across her face. Beau was gone by the time I got here.”

Cari gritted her teeth. She wasn’t fool enough to think they’d come through unscathed. She had hoped, however, not to lose anyone.

Worst of all, she knew they’d have to leave him here. There was no way to drag his body out through the twisting cave system back to the mine. They had too many injuries among the living to manage it.

“When I got to you, I heard you cursing at someone under your breath. Who was it?”

“I never got his name, but he was the man in charge here, and he admitted the Duke of Charon was behind it. Of course, we were alone when he said it so it will be my word against the Duke’s, so it’s no help in the long run.”

Cari glanced at the cavern entrance where the man had limped away, escaping just before Helen and Stefan returned.

“He was good, Helen. Very good. Better than me in many ways. I almost killed him but, in the end, he managed to escape despite my best efforts.”

“It looked like he almost killed you, too, though you’ve somehow managed to heal up on your own faster than I’ve ever seen. You’ll have to tell me how you managed that.”

Cari shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I would if I believed you were the Lost Princess returned to save the Empire once more.”

“That’s enough of that nonsense. I thought you said you didn’t believe all that.”

“That was before I watched you recover from near-fatal wounds right in front of me. Cari, I’ve seen you do a lot of impossible things over the last year. You’re correct when you say I used to scoff at the crew’s tales about how you were the princess returned. Let’s just say, your secret is safe with me.”

Helen capped off the statement with a wink and a smile.

Cari didn’t have an answer, and she didn’t think anything she could say would change her first mate’s mind anyway.

Stefan pulled Rodrigo to a sitting position and wrapped a length of cloth across his neck. He created a sling to support Rod’s injured arm and tied it off.

Francesca was on her feet. Bloody bandages wrapped around her head and obscured half her face. Blood had already seeped through the spot where her eye had been.

Cari wished they’d found a cache of healing potions. She didn’t want her crew to pay such a hefty price for her desire to do the right thing.

Francesca caught Cari staring her way and smiled.

“It’s alright, Cap’n. I’m gonna live.” Her eye grew somber as she glanced down at her friend, Beau, lying nearby, his cloak pulled up to cover his face.

Cari had an idea. “Francesca, let’s you and I gather rocks and build a funeral cairn for Beau. I think it’s fitting to bury him here where he did so much to help the people of Tandon.”

“I think he’d like that.”

Together, the two of them started bringing rocks of various sizes and shapes over and started piling them gently over the body until Beau was covered.

Cari shoved the cutlass into the sandy ground of the cavern floor at the head of the oblong cairn. “I don’t know the right words to say. We came here to right a wrong. We did what we came to do. Beau gave his life and helped us save hundreds, maybe thousands of people back in Tandon. I can’t think of a better way to remember him than as a hero, buried here surrounded by the bodies of his fallen enemies.”

“I think that was perfect, ma’am,” Francesca remarked as they gathered their weapons and started back up the trail and into the tunnels beyond the cavern.

“Thank you, Francesca. I’m glad you liked it.”

Cari left it there after an awkward pause as she stared down at Beau’s final resting place. She didn’t know what else to say. Both women nodded at each other and turned their attention to the rough terrain ahead of them as they climbed back through the cave system to the mines above.

———

Cari’s heart fell when they finally reached the fissure opening leading back into the mine. She crawled through first and was the first to see the bodies.

Gary’s and Killian’s bodies lay near the opening. From the looks of it, they’d been sitting by the entrance to the lower tunnels, watching the mine’s passages for signs of trouble. They probably never saw the man who killed them.

Cari had little doubt the well-dressed man from the cavern had done this. Westy and Bradley both lay farther out into the chamber.

They’d put up a fight, but Cari knew how good their adversary had been, even when wounded. Hopefully, they’d managed to injure him more before they died. There was some blood on Westy’s cutlass.

She had no way to tell for sure if that blood was the opponent's or Westy’s own, though. The blood on the blade and staining the floor around her crewmen was most likely their own. There was no sign of a blood trail leading away from the chamber into the mine passages.

Cari heard the gasps of the others as they climbed out of the lower tunnels behind her. These losses were hard to take after losing Beau in the cavern attack below. They had no reason to believe their friends up here had anything to worry about.

They were wrong.

“Let’s get moving and bury them as we did Beau below. We’ve got to get back to the Vengeance and sail to Tandon. I cannot prove what I heard about the Duke of Charon’s involvement with this plot to destroy Tandon. I think, however, the Duke will believe me when I tell him about what we’ve learned here.”

The others pitched in, first gathering the four bodies of their crewmates and lining them up side by side. Then they moved about the chamber and into the mine passages beyond until they’d gathered enough rocks to cover their comrades.

Cari repeated similar comments as she’d said below over Beau’s cairn.

They gathered their friends’ belongings to take back to the ship and started back up through the mine to the surface. Cari and the others got turned around several times in the warren of tunnels until they finally found their way out of the mine shaft entrance. Finally, they stood on the hill overlooking the collection of buildings below the mine entrance.

A grunt from nearby startled Cari as she emerged into the moonlight. Peering into the darkness, she saw a huge form step out of the shadows and into the light of the torches they carried.

It was Chrrrak.

He growled a few words she couldn’t make out and pointed back into the mine shaft.

It took a few tries but then Cari understood.

“Yes, we found the source of the poison. We destroyed it. You shouldn’t have trouble anymore.”

The troll chieftain gestured at her group and pantomimed counting on his fingers.

“Where others?”

Cari shook her head. “Our friends died during the mission.” Another thought occurred to her. “You didn’t see anyone else come out of the mine, did you?”

The troll shook his head and shrugged, pointing up at the cloudy sky. “Too dark, even for troll. Only saw you because torches.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. The leader of the plot to poison your people and the human city to the west got away from us. I hoped you might have seen him. It doesn’t matter. We stopped him and his plot. Let him run back to his boss and tell him about his failure.”

“Where go now?”

“We return to our ship and sail back to Tandon, the city to the west. I’m worried about the mine here. There’s nothing to stop someone from returning and trying the same thing again.”

“My people take action. We gather clan. Come pull down timbers. We collapse mine tunnels. No one enter after.”

“That would be best. Thank you, Shrek. I am glad we were able to work together.”

“We related now, like cousins,” Chrrrak said. He pointed to his palm where he’d cut himself and let his blood mingle with hers.

“Yes, I guess we are.” She held out her hand and clasped wrists with the huge troll chieftain. “Farewell, cousin. Perhaps we will meet again someday.”

“I like that.” The troll’s face split in the most horrifying grin she’d ever seen.

His mouthful of jagged blackened teeth would be an image she wouldn’t forget for a long time.

Cari and the others turned and started down towards the cliff path leading to the cove and the anchored Vengeance.

Chapter 23

Cari stared out over the stern rail at the ship’s wake as the Vengeance cut through the waves on the return journey to Tandon. Her thoughts turned back to the man who’d almost killed her.

Helen joined her at the rail. “Still thinking about the man from the caverns?”

“I can’t help but think I could have found a way to stop him.”

Helen let out a wry chuckle. “It sounds like he almost killed you and you want a rematch. You are a piece of work, Cari.”

“What’s wrong with wanting a rematch? I want to find him and who he is. He could be the key to tracking down a definitive link to the Duke of Charon. That would allow us to present the evidence needed to charge him with treason in the Crystal City.”

“You just said it. You don’t even know his name. How are you going to track him down?”

“Somehow I think he’ll end up in front of me again before this whole thing is over. Until then, we’ll call him the well-dressed-man, for lack of a better name.”

Cari turned and took in the ship’s course and speed with a glance. It was second nature now to call up the course vectors in her mind. She lay in the vectors over the current and wind direction she saw. The speed and destination adjustments appeared before her and she smiled.

“We’ll be in Tandon before sundown. I hope the Duke will allow us into the harbor and grant us an audience. He needs to know about this and take steps to defend himself and the city against further attacks.”

“What’s the plan if they don’t let us into the city?” Helen asked.

“We sneak in if we have to. We’ve got to retrieve young Jane before someone else discovers who she really is.”

“There’s been a plague in the city, Captain. Are you prepared for the possibility she’s ill or even dead?”

The statement bothered Cari for a moment. She called up her quest menu and relaxed. In the open quests area, she saw the highlighted text of the current mission.

Active quest — retrieve the missing princess

“Don’t ask me how I know, Helen, but I know. She’s still alive, at least for now.”

“I’ll take your word for it, just like I always do. Someday, though, you’re going to tell me what you see when you get that faraway look in your eyes. It looks like you’re reading something that’s not there.”

“Someday, maybe I will tell you. You won’t believe me, though.” Cari changed the subject. “How are Rodrigo and Francesca? I’m hoping we can take them to one of the temples while we’re in Tandon and purchase a healing spell or two from one of the priests.”

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a chest full of healing potions to that shopping list, either. As to how those two are doing, Francesca will recover well enough with rest and food. The impact of Beau’s death is starting to set in for her. It will be harder for her to adjust to that than it will to heal the physical wounds.”

“And Rod?”

“It’s a good idea to get him looked at by a priest. I was able to keep his life from slipping away but he’s still unconscious, and we’ve exhausted the limited healing skills I have.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Helen. You’ve been able to bring me back from the brink of death on more than one occasion.”

“You’re different. I’ve never seen anyone heal as fast as you do without a healing potion or spell. It’s as if all I have to do is stop the bleeding and splint up your wounds and your body takes care of the rest before I can do anything else.”

“I’m just lucky to have strong stamina, I guess.”

Helen looked from side to side to make sure none of the crew was close enough to overhear over the wind and waves.

“Cari, did your father possess healing skills like this?”

Cari shot her first mate a stern glance. This wasn’t the first time Helen had brought up her parents since she’d decided Cari was, indeed, the legendary Lost Princess.

Cari gave up on arguing the point with Helen and shook her head in answer. “I honestly don’t know. It’s not like he told me how anything in this place worked before I came here. Knowing him, he probably did. He’s the luckiest person I know. Sometimes, without even trying, the strangest things will just happen so that a series of events just land in his favor. He calls it his superpower.”

“That kind of luck could come in handy.”

“Maybe, but I prefer to rely on my sword, my speed, and my wits to make people and things around me fall into place.”

“You can’t say it hasn’t worked well for you so far.”

“No, that is true.” Cari looked up at the sail configuration and gave the wind vectors an appraising glance. “Let’s put on some more sail, Helen. I think we can squeeze a little more speed out of this old girl and maybe get into Tandon a few hours early.

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Helen stepped away, calling out orders for the bosun to relay to the rest of the crew. Soon a dozen men and women scurried up into the rigging to carry out the captain’s orders.

It was time to look forward and not back at her parents and the past. There was work to do.

———

The harbor chain still stretched across the narrow opening into Tandon’s harbor. Cari assumed the other land gates were still closed as well, so she now found herself back in the longboat, headed for the small fort on the headland at the mouth of the harbor.

The same black-clad doctor came out on the battlements with an escort of musket-armed guards as the longboat approached.

Cari called up to him. “We found the source of the illness. It was caused by large amounts of concentrated starwort poison dumped into the source of the city’s water supply. We were able to stop those responsible.”

“Starwort you say? That would explain the lessening of symptoms and the recent recovery of some of the least sick people in the city. If that is true, then it isn’t a plague at all, and we can reopen the city.”

“That’s what we’re hoping you’d say.”

“I must consult with my colleagues and the priests in the temple leadership before we can make a recommendation to his Grace, the Duke.”

“Is there any way you can let us into the harbor in the meantime? We have urgent business in the city.”

“No, I don’t have the authority to open the city up to anyone. That lies solely with the Duke. If what you say is correct, though, I will recommend the travel ban be lifted and the city’s gates and harbor opened.”

“Don’t let me hold you up from your urgent business, then,” Cari replied. “I’ll wait here with my crew aboard the Vengeance until you have a reply from the Duke. Please hurry.”

“I will pass along your message and request, Captain Dix.” The doctor nodded and disappeared from view as he re-entered the fort’s interior. The guard of troops remained to discourage her from forcing a landing here and now.

The bosun turned the longboat around and ordered the crew to pull on the oars as they headed back into the deepening gloom of the approaching dusk.

The next morning, a sharp rap on her door woke her from a dead sleep.

“Come in.”

Percy poked his head into the cabin and smiled at her. “Miss Doolan requests your presence on deck, Cap’n. The sun’s just come up.

“Thank you, Percy. Tell her I’ll be right there.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

The door closed. Cari rolled out of bed to pull on her trousers and get dressed.

Helen called out to her as soon as Cari emerged from the passage beneath the quarterdeck.

“Look!”

Cari followed her first mate's gaze and pointing finger to the mouth of the harbor.

The great chain blocking the harbor had been lowered.

Cari smiled and called out orders to both Helen and Mr. Dawkins. It wasn’t long before the Vengeance came about and sailed into Tandon’s harbor.

She stood watching as the docks and piers came closer. She saw other captains on the few ships in the harbor calling out orders as their vessels prepared to leave Tandon. Their crews and cargo had been held captive in the city for weeks while the source of the plague was sought.

A few of them waved as they saw the Vengeance pass by and one captain and crew cheered. Word must have spread with news of who’d been responsible for delivering the city from the strange sickness that had befallen it.

Soon they docked at a long wooden pier and Cari joined Helen by the rail as the crew lowered the gangplank into place.

“You remember where you left her, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Don’t worry. I know just where she is. We’ll have her back in safe hands within the hour.”

“Let’s get to it, then.” Cari jumped up onto the gangplank as soon as it clattered down onto the pier.

Helen followed her captain and took the lead as the two of them headed into Tandon.

An hour later they stood in front of a small, one-story stone home with a thatched roof. The house sat amidst other humble fishermen’s dwellings on the narrow street.

“Are you sure this is the right one?” Cari asked reaching up to touch the boards nailed across the doorway. A red letter “P” had been painted on the boards.

“This is the right one, I’m sure of it.”

A voice to their left called out to them. “They’re dead. Died of the plague that took the city these last few weeks.”

An old woman, her gray hair pulled back in a bun leaned out a first-floor window across the street.

“Dead?” Cari asked, her heart sinking. “All of them?”

“Yep, both Carl and Ina got sick at the same time. They died within hours of each other two days ago.”

“Wait,” Helen said. “You said both of them. What about the little girl, Jane? What happened to her?”

The old woman squinted at Helen for a few seconds, then recognition showed on her face.

“You’re the sailor who brought the girl here to live with them, aren’t you?”

“She is,” Cari said, jumping into the conversation. “I’m her captain. We came to check on the little girl’s welfare.”

“She ain’t here. She left with all the others.”

“Left? Where?” Cari asked.

“When it became clear there was a plague, and the Duke was going to close the city, our guild leaders gathered all the fishermen’s children together, including young Janey. A few of us used our boats to take them down the coast to stay among friends in the fishing villages to the east of here.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Cari exclaimed. “Tell me who took her on their boat and we’ll find out from them where she was left.”

“I cannot. Both Old Bert and Yori Hansen died from the plague after they returned. She is safe though, I’m sure. The folks in those villages are fine people and will take care of her and the other orphans as if they were their own children.”

“Helen, how many villages lie along the coast to the east of here?”

“Depending on how far east they traveled to parcel out the kids, it could be up to a half dozen. We likely passed half of them on the way to and from the silver mine.”

“Return to the ship and prepare to set sail. I know we need to resupply. Get only the provisions we need for a short voyage loaded as fast as you can. I’ll stop in and leave a message for the Duke with a friend. I should be back on board the Vengeance before the evening tide. We’ll leave as soon as I return.”

“Aye, Cari. We’ll be ready to go when you return.”

Cari nodded and shouldered her bottomless leather backpack, heading up into the city proper.

———

Pushing open the door leading into the enormous, ramshackle building, Cari entered the Caravansary Outfitters, hoping Colin was here. He was the only one she could trust with a message for the Duke. There was no time to go through normal channels. It would take all day to gain an audience with His Grace, even with Cari’s notoriety.

“Colin, you here?” She called out as she stood amidst the stacks of adventurer’s gear stretching out in every direction as far as she could see.

Cari jumped with a yelp when a voice responded directly behind her.

“Young lady, what are you doing here? Has the plague ban been lifted at last?”

Cari spun around to face the strange little man who owned this shop. She had to admit to being happy to see him. He was a connection to home for her. He was the only person she’d met here who’d recognized her on sight and claimed to know her parents, though how he could, she wasn’t sure.

“Colin, don’t sneak up on a person like that.”

“What an odd thing to say. What other way is there to sneak up on a person?”

The question caught her by surprise.

“Never mind. Cari, what is it you need?”

“Two things. First, I need to replenish our supply of healing potions. I’m hoping you have some on hand since you’ve been able to supply us in the past.”

“I do, I had actually been buying up stock in other cities and stockpiling it here to dispense to the temples as needed.”

Cari held out her special backpack of holding, the magic, bottomless pack she’d received the first time she’d come here to outfit herself with gear.

Colin took it and held up a hand. “Wait here, and don’t touch anything.”

Cari nodded, used to the routine by now. Colin headed down an aisle between stacks of what looked like old metal breastplates. He turned the corner into another aisle and she lost sight of him.

Five minutes later, as Cari picked up a conical helmet with a spike atop it, Colin’s voice startled her again.

“I said don’t touch anything, girl. Don’t you listen?”

Cari set the helmet down and held out her hands. He shoved the backpack into her arms. “There’s a variety of healing draughts of various strengths in there for you. Now, what was the other thing you needed from me?”

“I need you to pass along a message to the Duke. It is to be given to him and only him.”

“Alright, I agree to your terms. What’s the message?”

“I’ve found the missing heir. I’m heading off to the east to retrieve her now. I’ll return here with her when I am able.”

“Ah, I wondered when you’d find Kareena’s lost great-granddaughter.”

“You knew about her?”

“I suspected she might be alive and well. Why else would you be here? Your mere presence in Fantasma just confirms that suspicion.”

“Colin, if you knew all along why didn’t you tell someone? They could have rescued her long before this.”

“No one listens to me. They think I’m crazy and only useful for supplying caravans or outfitting adventurers. Besides, I knew that was likely your purpose for being here to begin with. I’m a programmer, a watcher from the sidelines. I first found this place by stumbling on a piece of code that didn’t belong. I’m happy to lend a hand for people like you and your father, but I’m no hero. I learned that the hard way.”

Cari was surprised to learn Colin might have been a programmer in the original Fantasma project. His explanation indeed made sense in light of how he appeared to pop in and out of his shop whenever he was needed.

“Look, I’ve got to get out of here. Will you deliver my message?”

“Of course, I would be happy to do so. Too much hinges on you finding that little girl.”

“Good, then what do I owe you for the potions?” Cari dug in her belt pouch for coins.

“We can settle up later. I’ll see if the Duke will pick up the tab in the meantime. Be safe in your travels and watch your back. I fear this will be a bumpy ride from here on out. Things are about to get a lot harder for you and your crew.”

His last statement startled her. She felt like things had been bumpy enough just getting to where she was. She started to ask him what he meant but stopped when he shook his head. He wouldn’t tell her anything else.

With a nod of gratitude, Cari turned and left the strange little shop owner behind. She had a lot on her mind and just enough time to reach the Vengeance to catch the evening tide.

Chapter 24

Hal and Mona crested the last rise before descending into the valley holding the city of Tandon. A tall ship with sleek lines, dropped more sail as it cleared the harbor entrance and sailed out into the Western Sea. Hal smiled as he watched it sail away. He envied the freedom of those captains who sailed these waters.

He sat in his saddle for a while with the setting sun at his back and turned his attention back to the scene before him. It had been a long time since he’d been here. There were some changes to the city below, but for the most part, it looked the same as it did when he first came here years before.

“It is beautiful,” Mona commented, sensing her husband was reminiscing as he looked over his first home here in Fantasma.

“Yes, it is. I’d forgotten how much I loved coming here. Why’d we ever stop?”

“You know why. It wasn’t fair to Cari to raise her in two worlds like we were doing. We had to pick a place she could call home and stay there. Besides, we were going to invite her to come back with us after her next birthday. That’s why you restored the computer in the first place.”

“Yeah and look how that turned out.”

“We’re almost there, Hal. This is the last place anyone had word of Cari’s whereabouts. Let’s get down there before dark so we can find a place to stay. It’s been two weeks since we’ve seen anything resembling an actual inn with a real bed.”

“We had a nice visit in the Valley of the Sun. Shalush’s grandson was very welcoming when he realized who we were.”

“Sleeping on a pile of bear pelts in a goblin longhouse is not my idea of a bed. I want you to take me to the nicest inn we can find so I can get a hot bath and a decent meal. Then I’m going to settle into a nice down-stuffed mattress and sleep until morning without having to take a shift on guard.”

Hal laughed. “That actually sounds like a nice plan. Come on, the main gate is right down there. Let’s go and get a good night’s sleep. We can check in on the Duke in the morning.”

———

Hal ground his teeth and tried to hold back his temper.

“My good man, I assure you the document is not a forgery. That is the Empress’ seal and it clearly states who I am along with my position as an official emissary from the Crystal City.”

“I don’t care who you say you are, we take the memory of Prince Hal very seriously here in Tandon. The mere fact you’re pretending to be him is enough for me to have you jailed until we discover who you really are. I suppose this woman with all the tools on her belt is supposed to be Princess Mona? Everyone knows she always went out wearing a blue gown. It’s in all the stories.”

“I never wore a blue gown in my life. Hal, we don’t have time for this idiot. We have to see the Duke.”

“Look, kid. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you don’t pass us along to your superiors, I’m going to make you very uncomfortable in a moment.”

The young officer spluttered for a moment, trying to find his voice. “You can’t threaten an officer in the Duke’s guard like that. Sergeant, Sergeant, come in here and place these people under arrest. They have threatened me.”

The door behind Hal opened, and he decided he’d have enough of this idiot. He opened himself up to draw in magical energy so he could teach this kid a lesson. Once more, he felt the strange resistance holding the magical forces back.

He felt some power fill him but nothing like he’d been used to when he came here in the past. Kareena had told him magic no longer worked the way it used to. Being unable to open portals whenever he pleased and travel where he wanted was a pain.

He was still struggling to gather enough power to do what he wanted when a shouted warning from Mona turned him around. A butt stroke to the head from the guard sergeant’s musket had him seeing stars and his legs buckled beneath him, dropping him to his knees.

Health damage — health -18

Hal looked up through the haze cursing aloud as the magic slipped away from him. He guessed he’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Mona was already being held with her arms twisted behind her by two guards. Two others advanced on him, manacles ready to bind his hands. Hal reached for his daggers as he struggled to rise.

The sergeant growled another order and raised his musket ready to strike Hal with the wooden stock one more time.

Hal struggled to rise to his feet as he drew his daggers. The room spun around him as he fought to break through the dizziness of the first blow to his head.

The sergeant brought his musket down again, catching Hal on the back of his head and the world started to dim. He didn’t need the notification to tell him he was about to pass out.

Critical hit — health -26

Critical side effect — unconsciousness

The next thing he felt was a familiar peppermint taste in his mouth as his faculties returned. A familiar voice nearby shouted at someone.

“Why did you automatically assume his letter from the Empress was a forgery, you fool. You’re a fortunate young man I happened to be on my way to see the Duke on urgent business.

“Mr. Colin, sir, how was I to know this man was who he said he was. Prince Hal should be an old man by now. My gramps was a little kid when he was here last.”

Mona’s voice carried a chill tone Hal knew all too well. “You’re just lucky Colin had a healing potion on him. Your sergeant almost killed him.”

Hal’s eye’s fluttered open and he looked up at Mona’s face staring down at him.

“Take it easy Hal. They beat on you pretty hard with their musket stocks.”

Hal raised his hand to his head. It throbbed with a dull ache despite the healing potion Mona gave him. She held up her hand with a fresh flask.

“Do you want another?”

“No, I’ll be alright.” Hal smiled at his old friend. “Colin, it’s good to see you again. We haven’t checked in with you in a long time. I see you still come here.”

“I find it interesting to visit from time to time and see how things are changing. Imagine my surprise when someone showed up in my shop who I knew from back home.”

“Please tell me you’re talking about Cari,” Mona said.

Colin nodded. “She’s made quite a name for herself since she came here. It hasn’t been easy, but she’s done well. Based on what she set out to do last night, I think you’d both be very proud of her.”

Hal had so many questions swirling around in his head. One jumped to the top as he processed what the shopkeeper said at the end.

“Last night? Colin, please tell me you locked her in a room at the Outfitters. Tell me you kept her until you could send her home.”

“Why would I do that? Besides, you know my portal set up allows only me to travel back and forth. Tildi made sure of that.”

“Why—?” Hal paused as he searched for the words. “Colin, why wouldn’t you stop her? That’s our daughter. She has no business roaming around this place. She could get herself killed.”

“I think that would be harder to do than you’d think. Judging from everything she’s accomplished in the year since she arrived, I’d say she’s leveled up quite a bit. You know she’s the captain of her own ship now. She’s built quite the reputation for herself as the protector of the Southern and Western Seas.”

“Colin,” Mona asked. “Is she still in the city? We’ve come to take her home.”

Colin shook his head. “Nope. She planned on sailing with the evening tide last night. As far as I know, that’s exactly what she did.”

Hal’s thoughts turned right away to the ship he and Mona watched sail from the harbor the night before. Had they been that close, only to miss her by a few hours? Just thinking about it put a twisted knot in his guts.

“Hal, we have to get to the harbor. We need to get a ship to go after her.”

“I think you both should hold on a second. I have a message Cari asked me to deliver on her behalf to the Duke.”

“What is it? Tell us.” Mona ordered.

“Not here, Mona. This has to be done in private. Too many prying ears about for me to be comfortable talking here, even quietly. Come on Hal, get on your feet. You’ll want to hear this, I promise you.”

The young officer of the guard who’d ordered Hal and Mona taken prisoner stood by the door wringing his hands. He had a puzzled look on his face. He looked from Hal to Mona and then to Colin.

“Uh, Mr. Colin, sir. If this is truly Prince Hal and Princess Mona, does that mean the Dread Raider Cari is actually the Lost Princess herself?”

“I’ll leave it for you to do the math, boy. You’re a smart lad. You’ll figure it out. Now get out of our way. The Duke is going to want to hear what I have to say. I’ve been delayed long enough this morning.”

Colin brushed past the lieutenant, followed by Mona and finally Hal.

Hal met the boy’s eyes and winked. “You’re lucky. I was going to turn you into a toad. Who knows? Maybe I still will.”

The lieutenant’s eye’s widened, and the blood drained from his face as fear of what Hal might do to him sunk in.

Hal laughed aloud at the look of horror on the kid’s face. Maybe he’d be a bit more polite to the next person who came in to get an audience with the Duke.

Chapter 25

Hal found himself surprised at the youthful ages of the Duke and Duchess of Tandon. They couldn’t be older than twenty-three or twenty-four. They were barely older than Cari.

When Colin introduced them and announced their reason for coming to Tandon, an astonished look crossed the young Duke’s face.

“I knew it. I knew there was something special about that young lady. The Lost Princess herself stayed under my roof and I didn’t even know it.” He smiled at Hal and Mona. “She saved my life, you know, and the life of Crown Prince Timron, too. Now I’m graced with the presence of the man who saved the Empire itself. I’m humbled beyond measure.”

“I’m just a guy like you, your Grace. I put my pants on one leg at a time like anybody else.”

“Please, Your Highness, both of you must drop the formality here in the palace. Please call us by our given names. I am Korran, named for my grandfather who you knew very well back in the day. My wife is Cecelia.”

“Call me Ce-ce, please. I insist,” the Duchess said.

“Good, I never had much use for all that formal talk. Only if you call us Hal and Mona, though.”

“Very well, Hal, now what is it I can do for you two? I’ll put the resources of my entire duchy at your service as soon as we resolve the effects of this horrible plague that struck us.”

“What plague?” Mona asked.

“Actually, it turns out someone was poisoning the underground river that supplies water to our wells. Cari, your very capable daughter, tracked down the source of the problem and stopped those who were responsible, though we are a bit hazy on the details. We only know what little she told one of our court physicians before she left the city.”

“I’m sorry for what befell your city,” Hal said. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to recover in good time. What I need is a ship, preferably one fast enough to catch up with Cari, wherever she’s headed next.”

“That won’t be easy, Hal,” Colin said, jumping into the conversation. “Her ship, the Vengeance, is a mighty fast ship. Based on everything I’ve heard about her, she’s gained some unique abilities having to do with navigation and sailing. Besides, she’s coming back here when she’s done. That’s the reason I was coming to see the Duke.”

“Well, here I am, Colin. Out with it,” the Duke said.

“She’s found a survivor of the shipwreck that killed Prince Hamilton and his whole family. We thought they all had perished when the ship sank. It turns out it wasn’t a storm. It was raiders, as many of us expected. The raider captain took the youngest child, Jaycee, captive as a hostage for use later.”

Colin continued relaying the tale of the little girl’s rescue and fostering here in Tandon. He finished with a shrug. “I think the best thing to do right now, Hal, is for you and Mona to stay here and wait. Cari plans on getting the girl back and sailing right back here to Tandon.”

“He’s right, Hal,” Korran said. “Besides, there are no ships in the harbor. Once we opened the city again, all those ships quarantined in the harbor took off for open water. There’s nothing larger than a fishing boat down there right now.”

“If you’re right, Colin, she should be back in a few days,” Hal mused. “I suppose we should stay and wait for her here, if you’ll have us, Korran.”

“Of course. We’d be honored to have you stay here with us.”

Cecelia cleared her throat, and when everyone’s attention was on her, she spoke.

“I wonder, Hal, since you’re a mage of such renown and your wife is known for her exceptional mechanical abilities, if you could be persuaded to assist Tandon in its recovery from this horrible poisoning. The temple priests and healing mages are hard-pressed to keep up with the needs for healing and the water supply is still slightly tainted with the residual poison. People are still getting sick, though not at the rate or severity as we saw before.”

Mona glanced at Hal. “I suppose I could get together with the local craft guild masters to look at building some sort of water purification system for the city’s wells. You could lend your earth magic skill to helping with the healing needed by the people in the worst health.”

Hal nodded. “You’re right. We’ve got nothing else to do while we wait for Cari to return. Put us to work, Korran. We’ll do what we can to help your city recover. It’ll help pass the time and keep me from worrying about Cari every moment of the day.”

The mention of her name brought her to mind again and Hal’s mind wandered off, trying to picture his daughter as a dashing pirate captain. He chuckled as he remembered the name the lieutenant had used to refer to her.

The girl always had a flair for humor, “Dread Raider Cari,” indeed. She had obviously been inspired by an old 2-D flat screen movie they had watched many times together. Hal liked how Cari continued his tradition of co-opting pop culture references for use here in Fantasma, even if she did it unknowingly.

Deep inside he was proud of what she’d managed to accomplish in her time here, but he also knew the toll that kind of heroism had on a person. She was still so young. He hoped she was holding up under the burden of it all.

Chapter 26

Cari awoke the day after leaving Tandon to sounds of increased activity on the deck above. She was about to leave her cabin to see what was going on when Percy knocked on her door.

“What is it?”

“It’s Percy, ma’am,” he called through the closed door. “Miss Doolan requests you on the quarterdeck. A raider ship is sailing up on us from the south. She’s approaching fast, and we’re clearing the decks for action.”

“Thank you, Mr. McShea. Advise the first mate I’ll be on deck in a few minutes.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari got dressed while she tried to puzzle out what to do about the raider ship. While she’d made peace with the council of captains, the raiders formed only a loose partnership or confederation. There were multiple factions at play there rather than what anyone would call a true government.

She arrived on the quarterdeck and walked over to where Helen stood by the stern rail peering through the spyglass at a ship behind them. “What do you see, Miss Doolan?”

Helen handed her the spyglass. “It’s definitely a raider ship, though it’s a fast-rigged racing schooner. They’re flying the raider colors. I can’t tell if they’re friend or foe, though. They’re not a real danger to us. We could easily blow them out of the water.”

Cari saw the red and black checkered flag flying from the mainmast and shook her head. “Beats me. We made amends with most of the captains when we returned their families, but that didn’t account for all of them. There’s also the possibility of Raiders who don’t know the arrangement we made with Captain Wheldon and the other captains. This one would be a fool to attack us though. We’re twice their size and ship’s complement.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“Hold course for now and prepare for action but hold fire until fired upon.”

“That’ll give them the first shot, ma’am.”

“Or it’ll give them the opportunity to start a conversation before we fire at them. Do it. I’ll play the odds and see if they act aggressively first.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari continued to watch the other, smaller ship while the Vengeance and its crew prepared for battle. She didn’t have time for a fight right now. She was itching to get to the fishing villages along the coast and try to find the missing princess.

A puff of smoke from the trailing vessel indicated a chase cannon firing before the sound of the distant cannon fire reached her. Strange that they’d shoot from so far away. There was no way they’d be in range for at least fifteen minutes.

Unless—

Cari squinted and tried to track the direction of the cannonball they fired. She saw none. “Helen, I think I’m right. Bring us about to let them overtake us. They just signaled us they want to talk and not fight.”

“Aye, ma’am. If you say so. Bosun, take in the sail. We’ll wait for our pursuers to catch up.”

Mr. Dawkins headed down to the main deck, calling out orders amidst the hustle and bustle of the cannon crews preparing their guns for firing. Other sailors headed aloft to haul in the sails and tie them off against the spars suspended from each of the masts.

Cari brought the spyglass up to her eye again and stared at the trailing ship. It was closer now, and she could make out more details. The other ship’s captain stood on the quarterdeck, peering forward at the Vengeance through his spyglass. He looked familiar.

The figure on the other ship waved. He must’ve seen her watching his ship. Cari waved back then looked at the man again.

It was Captain Hitchcock, the raider captain who escorted them into the harbor at Cairn Island with the freed hostages.

“Have the crew stand down, Helen. It’s definitely a friend. Have Cookie prepare light refreshments. We’ll be having company soon.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

More orders were passed along. The gun crews began securing their guns, returning their weapons to standby positions secure against the rails on either side of the ship.

The raider ship caught up to them and lowered a boat to come across to the Vengeance as soon as they overhauled Cari’s position. Captain Hitchcock stood at the tiller as the crew rowed him across the gap between the two ships.

Cari waited on the main deck while he climbed up and over the side rail and stood before her.

“Captain Hitchcock, to what do I owe the honor of your presence? I did not realize it was you. That is not your ship.”

“Captain Weldon loaned me his racing sloop, Captain Dix. I have an urgent message for you from him.” He glanced from side to side before continuing. “You’ll want to hear this in private.”

“Very well, come with me down to my cabin. I’ll have some refreshments brought down to us.”

She led the raider captain down to her cabin and sat down at the table, offering her guest a seat across from her. Percy had already set a tray with some fruit, bread, and cheese on the table between them. He poured them each a goblet of wine and left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Captain Hitchcock double checked the door was closed then leaned forward towards her over the table.

“Do you remember Captain Day Ivarson from the council of captains?”

“I do. He was the one who wanted me killed if I remember correctly.”

“He was. Well, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Somehow he heard about the girl you were after. Captain Wheldon isn’t sure where he got that information, though I’m certain he’ll find out. Where he got it doesn’t matter. Captain Ivarson knows who the girl is, and he left right after you did, headed to the mainland. I can only assume he has gone to give the news to the Duke of Charon’s men.”

“That’s not good. Still, he doesn’t know where she is. I do.”

“He’ll turn out all his resources to find her. All he has to do is track you down. You’ll lead him right to her. Do you have the girl with you already?”

“No, but I know where she is,” Cari lied. “She is safe.”

“I was going to offer to take her back to Cairn Island. Jackie and I could take her in and tell folk she’s a niece visiting from her sister on the mainland.”

“No need for that. You could do me a favor, though.”

“Of course.”

“Return to Cairn Island and ask Wheldon to gather the council of captains. The Duke of Charon has control of the Imperial naval commanders in this region. If he decides to hunt the Vengeance down, I’ll likely need assistance. Do you think Crandall can convince them to back me and the future heir to the Imperial throne?”

“I know he’ll try his best. No promises, though.”

“Understood. I have a feeling I’m going to need some help to work my way around this.”

Captain Hitchcock stood and walked around the table to her. She stood and clasped wrists with him.

“I’ll do my best, Captain Dix. If nothing else, I know I can vouch for my ship and crew to return to your aid.”

“I’ll take all the help I can get.”

The two captains returned to the main deck and Cari walked Captain Hitchcock back to the rail and his waiting boat and crew.

“Godspeed, Captain,” the raider captain said as he descended the ladder down to his boat. Cari nodded in reply. He smiled up at her and ordered his crew to row back to his ship.

Cari watched them head back to the other ship for a few seconds then turned to Helen, standing by her side. “We need to get to Jaycee and we need to do it now. How long until we reach the first village?”

“A few hours, maybe more.”

“Put on all the sail we can carry. I want to get there as soon as we are able. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Chapter 27

The pall of smoke hung over the village. Cari and the landing party all had their weapons out as they searched through the scorched remains of the small fishing community.

“Could the Duke of Charon’s men have gotten here ahead of us?” Rodrigo asked, standing up after checking on a villager’s body for signs of life. Most of the bodies had been dead for a day or more.

“I don’t think so. The timeline doesn’t make sense. They shouldn’t have had time to gather any forces and get this far west to do this.”

“Then who?”

“Slavers,” Helen announced. She and Stefan returned from the far side of the village. They had a woman and two children with them.

“How do you know?”

“This is Akira. She and her children managed to hide in the forest while the raid happened. She described a large group of armored men in turbans. A ship put them ashore and sailed away. They came into the village and killed many of the men who fought against them. Then they rounded up the rest of the villagers, chained them together and marched up the coast to the east.”

“Cari, we haven’t seen any Sultanate ships around. The slavers put ashore must be heading to rendezvous with them farther east along the coast.”

“Or they’re moving on to raid the next village along the way,” Helen mused.

“How long ago did the raid happen?” Cari asked.

“Less than a day, miss,” Akira offered.

“Akira, I have to ask you something. There were foster children from Tandon brought here. Was there a girl named Janey among them?”

“No, we only took in five of the children since we’re such a small village. There wasn’t a Janey in that group.”

“That’s a small piece of good news in the midst of this tragedy. Akira, can we take you with us? We can settle you with another village up the coast.”

“We have nothing left for us here, miss. That would be very kind of you. Thank you for taking us in.”

“Alright. Stefan, help her gather what she can from the ruins here and then bring her to the ship. We’re heading on down the coast as soon as you’re aboard.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari turned and headed back to the two boats pulled high onto the sandy beach beside the smoldering fishing boats. She had to catch up to the slavers. They were likely working their way down the coast to meet up with their ship at a prearranged point.”

It didn’t take long to get everyone back aboard the Vengeance and they started on their way to the next village.

They saw the smoke before they rounded the headland and soon after saw the village’s smoldering ruins. A few of the buildings were still on fire. It had taken them the rest of the day to reach the next village and they must have just missed the slaver’s raiding party.

Once again, they picked up a few survivors, and once again, Cari discovered Janey had not been in the village.

“We need to keep going. The slavers are likely to raid the next village at dawn. The survivors say they marched east from here once again.”

Helen shook her head. “We can’t, Cap’n. Sailing along these coastal waters in the dark will only get us run aground or worse, even with your uncanny ship-handling abilities. To get around the next headland, we’ll have to range out to deeper water before turning east again. It’ll take us a full day to round just the small headland here and arrive at the next village. The fourth village is all the way around the whole peninsula. That’s even a longer trip by ship. The slavers are traveling overland. They will arrive much sooner than we can get there.”

“So, we take a party overland and chase after them on foot. They can’t be moving that fast with all the slaves chained together.”

Stefan nodded, “We should be able to overtake them quickly if we can find their trail in the dark. We will definitely catch them soon after they arrive at the third village.”

“Cap’n,” Rodrigo offered. “It would be better to camp here for the night, send the Vengeance on ahead, and we make our way overland first thing in the morning. One of the women told me there is another trail that’ll take us just under a day of travel overland to get across the narrowest part of the peninsula. We can go past the third village in line and head straight to the fourth village. We wait for the slavers to come to us there. They won’t expect a defensive force protecting the village and we can surprise them, rescuing the captives they’ve already taken. The Vengeance will take more than two additional days to get around the peninsula safe and sound.”

“A fine idea, Rod. Helen, take the survivors and return to the ship. I’ll remain here with the two lieutenants and an additional ten members of the crew. You’ll need the rest aboard the Vengeance to crew it in a fight if you run into the Sultanate slave ship or any of the Duke’s pet naval vessels. We’ll set out in the morning and try and get around the slavers.”

“I’ll head back to the coast as soon as I can, Cari. It’ll take just over two days by my reckoning. Be careful. Keep heading east. I’ll meet you at the fourth village in no more than three days, the wind and the seas willing. Hopefully, we both arrive there before the slaver’s ship does and we can stop them there.”

Helen and Cari clasped wrists and the Vengeance’s first mate headed back to the ship in the two longboats along with the crew members not selected to remain behind in the shore party.

Cari and the others set up their camp and settled in for a what was hopefully a quiet night before they set out the next day cross country.

There were no intrusions during the night and Cari awoke the following morning only a little stiff from sleeping on the ground. She packed up her bedroll, stowing it in her magic backpack.

Joining the rest of the shore party after helping to gather up the rest of the camp items, Cari pointed inland.

“Time to head out. Stefan, you take the lead. You have the training to navigate across rough ground and get where you’re going. Set an aggressive pace but make sure we don’t get off course. We still don’t know how fast the slavers are moving and we want to get ahead of them.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’ll get us there.”

Stefan shouldered his pack and started into the forest. Cari and the others filed in line behind him on a well-worn trail through the woods.

They’d been on the trail for almost three hours when they found the first bodies. A woman and two young children, killed and left to rot on the side of the path.

Cari stared at the bodies, anger filling her at the waste of life lying there. She suspected the mother and children couldn’t keep up with the others and the slavers just killed them rather than slow down.

The bodies were cold, so they’d been there overnight for at least a day. Animals had already been at them, but Cari made herself stare at the three corpses a little longer, internalizing the rage she felt towards the slavers. They were going to pay for this.

“Take a break. Dig three graves. We’ll bury them here so they can find some peace in whatever afterlife they follow.”

“We’ll lose time, Cari,” Rodrigo whispered so no one else heard him. “We don’t have any shovels or picks.”

“I don’t care. They made better time than we thought and got ahead of us. We’ll pick up our pace and catch up, but we’re not going to just leave these people here as food for the scavengers. Get it done.”

It took them too long, just over an hour digging in the hard ground with nothing but their belt knives and sharpened sticks cut from the trees around them.

In the end, though, that stop alone might not have stopped them from reaching the fourth village on time. What delayed them the most was the six other times they stopped to bury more dead left behind by the slavers.

By the time they were finished digging the seventh set of graves, Cari’s anger bubbled like a lake of hot lava beneath the surface, ready to erupt at a moment’s notice. The rest of the shore party looked to be in the same boat. They were all looking for blood.

The last burial party finished their work and Cari said the few words of comfort she knew. They rang hollow in her ears at this point. She wasn’t sure there was anything comforting about anything she said.

On top of the mood of her group, it had grown dark again and they still hadn’t reached their goal. The delays to bury the dead had doubled the duration of their journey. They hadn’t passed the slavers by and hadn’t reached the fourth village. The slavers were going to beat them there. They all settled into camp that night grumbling to themselves at their lack of action.

The morning of the second day arrived along with a slow rain, dripping through the forest canopy to the trail below. By mid-morning, the whole party was soaked to the bone and miserable enough to start snapping at each other for perceived slights.

Their individual pistols and the two muskets they carried were useless. The powder was too wet to burn which would decrease their ability to be useful in a fight.

If Cari thought things were bleak because of the rain, words couldn’t describe how her mood crashed when they reached a point overlooking the fourth village and saw the slaver’s ship anchored in the sheltered cove below.

Not only had the cross-country party of slavers and hostages gotten to the village ahead of them, but the ship to pick up the prospective slaves had arrived, too.

Cari looked out to sea, scanning the horizon in hopes of seeing the Vengeance sailing in to the rescue. The gray line between the low clouds and the horizon was empty of any vessels at all.

Scanning the camp below, Cari’s mind raced, trying to come up with something, some way to make the rescue with the ten sailors she had with her. There were ten times that number now in the group below between the slavers onshore and those cycling back and forth to the ship, loading the slaves.

There was only one thing she could think of, and it was just about the most desperate thing she’d ever considered. Rodrigo and Stefan were not going to be happy with her. She hoped they didn’t disobey orders and try and do something stupid.

Cari turned to her crew and crouched down. “Draw close everyone, I don’t want to raise my voice in case there are any slavers close enough to hear us.”

The men and women clustered around her in a semicircle and Cari smiled at them, meeting each of their eyes to try and reassure them. They all had a look of failure in their eyes.

“We didn’t catch them, did we? That doesn’t mean we have to give up on our rescue, we just have to adjust our plans.”

“Cari, I don’t think—” Rodrigo began.

“That’s Captain Dix to you right now, Lieutenant. Listen, don’t talk.”

She hated rebuking him that way given everyone’s mood, but she needed everyone to follow her orders or none of this was going to work. She called up her charm attribute and tried to bring the skill to bear as she began to explain what she wanted to do.

When she finished laying out her plan, she saw the rebellion in every person’s eyes. She couldn’t afford a mutiny right now or it would all fail before it had a chance to begin.

“I’m the Captain, people, and you will all obey my orders. This is the only plan that has any hope of succeeding. I’m not any happier about it than you all are. It’s the only way I can see of succeeding. There’s a young girl down there whose fate will determine the future of the entire Empire. That calls for extreme action. I’m willing to take the risk, the question is, are you all willing to follow the plan through to the end to make sure it all comes together. Without you following my orders to the letter, the plan will surely fail.”

Cari stared at Rodrigo first, drilling into his eyes with hers, trying to make him agree with her by sheer force of will.

Charm bonus successful

Rodrigo nodded. Then he looked away as if ashamed of himself. Stefan was next. Cari made sure each member of the shore party understood what had to happen for this to work. Everyone nodded their ascent in the end, though Francesca, her new eyepatch giving her a savage appearance, held out longest of all.

In the end, she went along as well, shrugging and muttering, “You’re the Captain.”

Cari took off her backpack and handed it to Stefan. She wouldn’t need it right now, and the others might need the stash of healing potions in there before she did.

“Rodrigo, you have command of the shore party. Follow my orders to the letter or so help me, I’ll come back and haunt you from beyond the grave.”

“If we’re all dead, it won’t matter either way.”

“You let me worry about that, that’s why I get the captain’s pay. Besides, if all goes as planned, I’ll see you again in a few days, a week at the most.”

Cari smiled to try and reassure the others then turned and started down the hill. She drew her sword and dagger, ready to fight her way to the center of the camp if need be. It was time to offer herself in trade to the Sultanate slaver captain.

Quest accepted — get captured alive by the slavers

Chapter 28

The slavers in the camp didn’t post any guards watching the forest’s edge beside the smoldering village ruins. Cari strode out of the tree line, putting on an air of confidence, hoping the knot twisting her gut at the moment didn’t betray her.

It wouldn’t do for her to be found vomiting behind the wall of a collapsed village cottage. For this to work, it was all about bravado of the sort that it was nearly unbelievable. Only by that could she hope to accomplish her mission.

Cari reached the center of the village before she ran into the first slaver. He did a double take in surprise when he saw she was alone. He kept glancing behind her, looking for anyone else backing her up.

When he didn’t see anyone, he called out and charged at the lone woman walking into their clutches. His cry to his comrades was choked off when Cari parried his scimitar with her dagger while in the same smooth motion she shoved twelve inches of her rapier blade through his throat.

2,500 experience

A snarl from behind her announced the arrival of a vengeful comrade of the unfortunate slaver who’d seen her first.

Cari spun in place, her prescience ability allowing her to duck under the scimitar seeking to decapitate her. Her extended leg swept the feet out from under the surprised slaver, dropping him to the ground.

A plunging dagger in his chest silenced his shout of alarm.

2,500 experience

Wrenching her dagger free as her sweeping leg continued around, she tripped two more charging slavers coming from the direction of the beach.

Cari pulled in her extended leg and somersaulted forward, slashing left and then right with her rapier, finishing the two new arrivals.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Rolling to her feet, Cari moved back into the same purposeful stride that carried her into the village. At this point, the slavers who’d seen her kill four of their crew with such brutal efficiency opted to hold back forming a loose semi-circle in front of her as she reached the beach. It appeared they were happy to have a standoff as long as she wasn’t attacking anyone.

Cari saw the assembled slaves chained at the shore, already being loaded into the boats. A quick scan of the clustered men, women, and children spotted Jaycee immediately. The little blonde-haired girl standing in her child-sized shackles, clutching at the skirts of a woman who placed a protective arm around the girl.

“Stop!” Cari stopped her advance and bellowed at the top of her lungs, using all the powerful command voice she’d developed as the captain of the Vengeance over the last year.

Every face turned to look in her direction. Cari smirked. She had their attention. Now to put the rest of her plan into place.

“Who’s in command here? Come on, show me the motherless son of a dog who belongs to that rat-infested tub out there.”

No one answered her right away. Then the crescent of slavers parted and a big man with a turban of golden fabric stepped forward. He wore a vest of red velvet over his bare, hairy chest. His baggy pants were of fine linen and his pointy-toed boots looked to be made of crocodile skin or perhaps some other reptile.

“I’m the captain of that ship you just maligned. Who the hell are you? I feel like I should know the name of the fool who stands in front of me before I decide whether to kill you or add you to my bounty.”

“I’m Cari Dix.”

The slaver captain’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Yes. I’m that Cari Dix.”

The captain looked around the smoldering ruins of the village, looking for some sort of trap or imminent attack that might explain Cari’s bold presence.

“I have to wonder what you think you’re doing. You’ve managed to kill a few of my crew, but you have to know we’d overwhelm you eventually by sheer numbers. You must have something else planned. What is it you want?”

“I’ve come to offer myself in exchange for the slaves you’ve gathered here. You know who I am so I’m sure you know of the price on my head in your homeland.”

“You are correct. Killing a member of the Sultan’s family has a way of gaining you a certain level of notoriety. You are worth a pretty penny, dead or alive.”

“Let the villagers go, and you’ll live to collect the bounty. Otherwise, I’ll kill you first and then finish off the rest of the crew when I’m done.”

“Oh, you think you can kill me as easily as you dispatched a few members of my crew? I’ll make you a counteroffer. I’ve heard you’re a master with that blade of yours. My ship’s champion will challenge you to a fight. If he wins, I take you and the slaves with me. If you win, my crew lets the slaves go, but I still get you and the bounty that goes with taking you alive.”

Cari had wondered if this might be the way the plan worked out. Honestly, she’d also expected him to order his crew to attack her all at once and take her down without giving in to her demands. Her plan would have worked either way, but this was a better option.

She nodded. “I agree to those terms. But how do I know you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?”

“You don’t.” The slaver captain smiled, showing a pair of gold teeth. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

Cari smiled but said nothing.

“Otto.” The slaver captain called out. “Take her alive. The Sultan wants to watch her die himself.”

A massive figure stepped forward, a seven-foot-tall orc wearing only a turban, baggy pants, and sandals. He carried a huge falchion, the broad, curved blade nearly four and a half feet long.

He grinned down at Cari as he approached. She decided the time for niceties was over. It was time for action.

Cari rushed directly at the green-skinned brute in front of her, dodging to the side at the last instant in an attempt at getting around him and slashing at the back of his leading knee, severing the hamstring tendons.

That was the plan.

She successfully dodged the descending falchion blade. She didn’t avoid the sweeping backhand blow from the orc’s other hand.

Stars exploded behind Cari’s eyes from the force of the knuckles on the side of her face. It lifted her from her feet, launching her six feet through the air to land on the sand face down and dazed.

Health damage — health -22

Sensing a follow-up strike in the midst of clearing her head, all Cari could do was roll several times to the right, away from the gathered slaver crew and into open ground.

She saw the pommel of the orc’s weapon pound into the sand where her head had been moments before. That blow would have surely rendered her unconscious.

It also told her the captain’s champion was following his orders to try and take her alive. That gave her an advantage, or at least it should.

Rolling over once more, Cari used her momentum to roll back to her feet. Her sword and dagger wove an intricate pattern in front of her to fend off the surprisingly quick strikes coming in at her again and again, seeking to get past her guard.

She heard a hissing intake of his breath when one of her ripostes slipped past his blade and she slashed open a gash on his arm.

It didn’t cause significant damage. The wound only appeared to anger him.

The speed of the falchion attacks increased. Cari didn’t know how he could wield the heavy and ungainly weapon with such grace and ease.

She took two slashing hits in rapid succession.

Health damage — health -8

Health damage — health -12

The slaver captain yelled over the shouts and jeers from his crew. “You can yield, girl, at any time. You know he has you beat.”

“Never.” Cari gritted her teeth against the pain and redoubled her efforts, pulling out tricks she’d never tried before in an effort to get past the orc’s defenses with a killing blow or at least hit him enough times to power-up her burst of speed.

The desperation of her attempts opened her up to more strikes from the heavy weapon.

Health damage — health -12

Health damage — health -10

Pain and blood loss took its toll on her. She was slowing down. It opened her up to a sweeping downward blow from above.

Cari raised her rapier, trying the stop the heavy falchion with her thinner, more delicate blade.

It didn’t work.

Her precious sword snapped in half, leaving her holding a foot and a half of useless steel in one hand.

The orc’s sandaled foot came up and kicked her in the gut, driving the air from her lungs in a coughing whoosh.

Unable to stop herself, Cari fell to her knees.

She was done, and she knew it.

Cari dropped her stub of a sword and her dagger into the sand and raised her hands.

This wasn’t part of the primary plan. She’d counted on her dueling ability to help her fight past anyone she faced one on one.

Cari glanced over her shoulder, praying she didn’t see her small shore party disobeying orders and trying to save her despite the odds.

The tree line was empty and she smiled. Good. They’d followed orders.

Cari caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked to the right in time to see the descending pommel of the falchion just before it struck her temple.

Health damage — health -12

Critical hit -- Unconsciousness

Quest completed — get captured alive by the slavers

10,000 experience

Everything went black as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped over onto the sandy beach.

Chapter 29

Cari awoke on a narrow wooden platform. There was a similar platform a few bare inches above her. Beyond that, she couldn’t make out much of anything else in the gloomy darkness.

Judging from the rocking motion beneath her, she was in the slaver ship’s hold, held just like the other slaves. She glanced from side to side and saw a three long rows of platforms, stacked five high, stretching both left and right from her position along the length of the ship.

Cari rolled to one side, pulling on the chain running from her manacled hands to a ring set in the corner post of her bunk. She craned her neck so could see as far as possible down the rows.

Every one of the slaver’s cargo platforms was full as far as Cari could tell. She struggled in the darkness to spot Janey on one of them, but it was impossible to pick out individuals more than a few bunks away from her own. The strain on her chains also set her head to pounding. She was still sorely injured.

Cari looked over her stats for the first time in a long while, trying to assess what options she had for the rest of her plan to work out.

Name: Cari Dix

Class: Duelist

Level: 12

Attributes:

Brawn: 12 - +2 to hit/damage

Wisdom: 10 - +1

Luck: 10 - +1 to all saving throws

Speed: 22 - +7 defense

Charm: 18 - +5 personal reaction

Health: 44/120

Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 2, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Taunt, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience — 3, Ambidexterity, Seamanship — Master, Navigation — Master, Aimed Cannon Shot — 2

Master Duelist Bonus — Projectile Dodge (50% chance of activation)

Regeneration – 1 hp/second (max 60 seconds) 1/day

Experience: 386,500/600,000

Cari wished she’d somehow managed to develop some thieving abilities or some way of picking locks. That could have come in handy right now, and she wouldn’t have to try the crazy idea that had seemed so sensible back on shore. She shook her head. No sense whining about what might have been. She just hoped she had enough health points to spare for what the plan called for next.

Shifting to one side so she could peer over the edge of her bunk, Cari looked up and down to see who her neighbors were.

The elderly man directly below her was sleeping. The girl to her right at the same level was awake, though. She looked to be about fourteen, though she could have been older and just small for her age.

“You’re her, the real Dread Raider Cari. I saw you fighting for us. I’m sorry you lost.”

“So am I,” Cari replied. “What’s your name?”

“Trina.”

“How long have we been on the ship?”

“I think it’s been three and a half days.”

“Hmmm,” Cari thought. Three days? She’d lost a lot of the time while unconscious. She was running out of time and needed to enact a significant part of her plan. That blow to her head would have put her in a coma if it had happened back home. Here, with her extra ability to absorb damage, it had just knocked her out, albeit for a long time.

Cari shook her head. “We don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?”

“Time until my crew comes after me. We need to be ready when they get here. That means I have to get out of these shackles.”

“How are you going to do that? Can you pick locks?”

“Sadly, no. I’m afraid this is going to be much more of a brute force approach, something my pig-headed father would probably do.”

“That doesn’t sound like it’s something good.”

“It’s not, Trina, believe me. Plus, it’s gonna hurt like hell. You might want to look away for a few minutes until I’m done. I’m not sure how long this is going to take or even if it will work the way I planned it.”

“Why would I look away? I don’t even know what it is you’re going to do.”

Another voice sounded from the bunk above Trina. “I’m not looking away either, missy,” a bearded man in his fifties said, leaning over as far as his chains would allow so he could see into the narrow space where Cari lay. “After that fight on the beach, I want to see how you’re going to get yourself out of this predicament.”

“Suit yourself.”

Cari didn’t want an audience for this next part. She didn’t want anyone to see her cry and she was pretty sure she was going to.

Twisting around, so her bare feet were planted against the post where the ring was bolted that secured her manacle, Cari leaned back until her arms were stretched to their limit.

“Ooo, she’s gonna use super-strength to pull the bolts free from the frame,” Trina whispered.

“I wish,” Cari muttered.

The old man chimed in. “She’ll never do it. There’s no way.”

“Oh, there’s a way,” Cari said through gritted teeth. She pushed with her legs while she held her arms straight out towards the ring, the chains of the manacles pulled tight, her shoulder muscles tensed to pull against the manacles.

The iron cuffs dug into her skin, and she felt a stab of pain as the one on her right cut through the skin, making her wrist slick with blood.

Cari’s stomach churned as the pain in her protesting wrists started. She resisted the voice at the back of her mind telling her it would never work. There was no stopping now. It was the only way out.

Pushing harder with her feet, increasing the tension further, Cari pulled back against the manacles, her fingers and thumbs angled away from her, pointing straight at the post.

More blood flowed as the other manacle cut into her wrist just below her thumb.

The pain made her groan and she bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood as she held back the screams.

It was now or never. She’d lose her nerve if she waited any longer.

Cari steeled herself against the pain, bunched up her shoulder muscles and wrenched her right shoulder backward once, twice, and then a third time. She felt a pop followed by a wave of pain shooting up her arm.

Squinting through a haze of tears down at her right hand, she saw the thumb slip out of its joint and collapse the size of her hand. Another tugging pull through the wave of pain broke several bones in her hand, collapsing the end of her arm further.

A fifth tug on the right side and the manacle slipped off her wrist, over her mangled hand and clattered on the wooden platform.

Health damage — health -20

Forcing herself to keep going, Cari set to work on her left hand. It took six tugs on this side to break enough of her bones to pull it through the iron cuff. She almost passed out as her hand slipped through the manacle securing her wrist.

Health damage — health -20

Cari collapsed back, weeping silently, hugging her bloody and aching hands close to her chest. The pain overwhelmed her for a few seconds and she forgot part two of her plan for a moment. Then Cari remembered and she forced herself to remain conscious as the red “critical health warning” flashed in the corner of her vision.

“Huh,” the old man said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Me, either,” Trina replied. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Are you alright, Captain Cari?”

“I. Will. Be.” Cari gritted her teeth against the pain as she spoke. It was hard to concentrate and she had to focus on this or it wasn’t going to work.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slow and steady, Cari opened her ability and skill menu, scrolling through until the regeneration ability was in place.

It took her several tries to get it to highlight and show it was selected. The throbbing pain in her hands and wrists kept distracting her.

Finally, she saw the golden flash that showed the ability was engaged. She mentally clicked yes. A second later, the familiar warmth spread outward from her center, washing away the worst of the pain. Cari watched her thumbs pop back into place and her crumpled hands reform as her health points ticked upward. A minute later, she’d regained the full sixty points the ability enabled.

Her hands still ached, as did her other wounds but, when she flexed her fingers, everything moved and her dislocated thumbs were both back in position. The right side was sorer than the left, but she could live with that for now.

“How did you do that?” Trina asked. “Your wounds healed while I watched.”

“Not all the way. It’s something a friendly troll taught me to do.”

“Bah, there’s no such thing as a friendly troll,” the old man said. “They eat small children for God’s sake.”

“I don’t know about that, but I made friends with this one. What’s your name, old man?”

“Careful who you call ‘old,’ missy.”

“I’m sorry, but unless you want me to call you old man for the rest of the trip, you should tell me who you are.”

“He’s Zeb. He is the worst fisherman in our village. My dad always says he can’t catch a fish in a bucket.”

“You’re dad’s not any better than I am. I was fishing when he was a youngster only old enough to mend my nets.”

“Quiet, you two. I don’t need your bickering to draw attention over here. What do you think the guard will do if he comes over and sees my manacles hanging there?”

“Sorry,” Trina mumbled.

Zeb just grumbled to himself and rolled over.

It was already too late.

Others from neighboring bunks were paying attention to what Cari was doing now. The growing buzz of voices around her drew the guard from the far end of the hold.

“What the hell are you all up to? I swear if another one of you useless curs is dead, I’m gonna throw somebody else over the side with them.”

Cari slid off her bunk to the floor between the stacked bunk platform she’d been on and the one Trina was on. She crouched down and waited.

The grumbling guard’s boots thumped on the decks’ planks and Cari listened, trying to judge the right time to make her move.

Across the aisle from where Cari crouched, a fisherman about the age of her father stared at her. He nodded and called out to the guard.

“Guard, over here. I have something I have to tell you.”

At first, Cari thought the man was turning her in. Then she realized he was trying to distract the guard away from her hiding place.

“It better be something good, or I’m gonna beat you so bad you’ll wish I killed you. I was almost asleep and it’s my nap time.”

“It is very good. It’s so important I had to tell you right away and couldn’t wait another minute.”

The guard stomped past Cari’s hiding place to face the fisherman across from her. A long knife was shoved in the slaver’s belt at the small of his back

Cari sprang forward, launching herself across and up to land on the slaver guard’s back. In the same motion, she reached down and pulled the man’s knife free.

The slaver reacted quicker than she expected.

He arched his back and slammed his shoulders backward, attempting to crush Cari against the row of bunks behind her.

Health damage — health -5

Cari grunted as the impact drove the air from her lungs.

She raised the long knife up to plunge it down into the guard’s chest with one hand while she held on tight with the other hooked around his neck.

The guard caught her descending wrist with one hand, stopping the knife only inches from his skin.

He leaned forward and bashed backward with his superior bulk again. This time Cari’s head struck the corner of the bunk hard.

Health damage — health -8

Cari shook her head to clear her mind. The blow had likely caused another concussion. She’d worry about that later.

If she had a later.

Cari dropped the knife and wrenched her hand free of his grasp as his grip slipped on her still-bloody wrist. She used the free hand to grip her other wrist and lever back on the arm wrapped around the guard’s throat. He clawed at her arm, trying to pull it away from his neck. Strangled gasps wheezed through his collapsing airway until the guard couldn’t breathe at all.

He slammed backward again, with less force this time. Cari managed to absorb this blow without taking any damage.

She leaned back, putting all her body weight on her arms, tightening the stranglehold even more.

The guard’s legs buckled and he dropped to his knees. Cari rode him to the ground. His hand scrabbled at the deck, reaching for his knife where it fell when Cari dropped it.

Her bare feet on the deck now, Cari lifted and pulled the man backward away from the weapon, maintaining her grip with her arm locked across his throat.

He stopped struggling and his hands dropped to his side. Cari held him up on his knees and continued to press in on the guard’s neck with all her strength while she counted to sixty twice.

When she was sure he wasn’t faking, she let go and he slumped over to the deck.

2,500 experience

Cari smiled at the fisherman who’d helped her by distracting the guard.

“Thank you.”

“You’re our only chance of getting out of here alive and not in chains.”

“Speaking of chains,” Cari said as she started searching the guard for the keys to unlock the manacles on the other slaves.

“He doesn’t have the keys on him,” the fisherman said. “When they brought us down here, I saw a ring of iron manacle keys on a wooden peg by the ladder up to the next deck.”

“Alright, while I go and look for the keys, pull his body up and stash it in my bunk where I was, just in case another guard comes by while I’m gone.”

Cari bent down and scooped up the belt knife and started down the aisle between the rows of slave bunks towards the end of the hold. The desperate faces in each bunk she passed faced her way, punctuating her desire for this plan to work.

She reached the end of the row of bunks and crouched, peering around the corner. She saw a chair and a small table by the ladder leading to the next deck above.

Sure enough, the keys were there, hanging from a peg on the cross beam where the ladder entered the upper deck.

Cari dashed out and reached out for the key ring when shouts from up above and the sounds of pounding feet had her duck beneath the ladder and pull herself back into the shadows for fear someone was coming down the ladder.

The running feet above increased in number and Cari overheard orders shouted from an officer or bosun’s mate above her to clear the deck for action.

Cari smiled to herself. They were preparing for a fight against another ship.

She had a hunch which ship that might be.

Knowing the activity above her was only going to increase, Cari took a chance and darted out, climbing halfway up the ladder, and reaching out for the keys.

Snatching the key ring off the peg, Cari jumped down to the deck. Time to put the rest of her plan into action.

Quest accepted — lead a successful slave mutiny

She ran back down the aisle of bunks to where she’d started and reached past the fisherman who’d helped her, unlocking his manacles first.

“I’m Cari.” She handed him the key ring.

“I know who you are,” the fisherman said rubbing his wrist where the manacle had gouged him and cut into his arm. “I’m Merk.”

“Nice to meet you, Merk. If you know who I am, then you know my reputation. I don’t lose and I don’t plan on starting now. All that noise above means my ship has tracked me down. There’s going to be a fight. We need to be ready to lend a hand from down here when the time is right.”

“We’re not soldiers or experienced fighters like you are, Captain Dix.”

“No, you’re better than soldiers. You’re desperate people fighting to save your families and keep them from the slave pens in some Sultanate compound. Failure is not an option.”

The fisherman’s lips pressed together in a grim smile. He nodded and took the keys from her.

“Unlock as many of the others as you can. Focus on those who will fight beside me. Then hand off the keys to another to free the rest of the slaves down here while you bring the potential fighters over to me at the end of the aisle. Got it?”

“Yep.”

“Good, then get to work.”

Cari turned and padded back down the aisle to the hatch and ladder. No one else had come down to check on them yet, but she had to think someone would soon.

She crouched down and waited for her new fighters to be freed and come to her. She hoped Helen, Rodrigo, and Stefan had the crew of the Vengeance whipped into a fury. There were a lot of slavers on this ship when it came time to board her.

The sudden boom of cannon fire sounded from above. The fired broadside from the slavers’ cannons shook the whole ship.

The battle to rescue Cari and the others from the slaver’s ship was underway.

Chapter 30

Rodrigo Dumont bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to bring the two ships closer faster by sheer force of will. His hand maintained a white-knuckled grip on the hilt of the sword sheathed at his waist.

They had to get Cari back.

He shook his head. He and Stefan should never have let her go down into that village alone.

Helen had been furious. The usually calm first mate seethed with rage all of which she focused on the two lieutenants.

Rodrigo had taken it without complaint. He and Stefan both deserved the woman’s wrath.

She’d recovered herself fast enough. The captain had passed on orders for them all and carrying them out was the only way they could ever hope to have her back in command of the Vengeance again.

It had taken nearly two days after Helen retrieved the shore party for them to track down the slow-moving slaver ship as it traveled along the coast. Now they closed on the Sultanate ship fast.

“I’m turning her so you can launch another broadside, Mr. Claridge,” Helen called from the quarterdeck. “Be ready to fire as she bears.”

“Aye, ma’am.” Stefan bent low over the barrel of the first cannon in the port broadside, sighting along it.

All of the barrels had an extra wooden wedge placed under the barrels, lifting them up so they’d fire higher than normal. The last thing any of them wanted to was to breach the lower hull on the slave ship. Their captain was down there.

By firing high and aiming at taking out a mast or sections of the ship’s rigging, they decreased their chances of a hit and the running battle had gone on longer than it might have otherwise.

The deck tilted beneath Rodrigo’s feet as Helen had Katie at the helm bring the ship to starboard to allow the cannons to bear on the ship they chased.

The turn tilted the deck upward slightly and Stefan cursed and held up his hand to signal his gun crews. He had to wait until the ship leveled out or the cannons would fire too high and miss entirely.

Stefan’s hand slashed downward. “Fire!”

The cannons’ thunderous blasts sounded as one and thick gray smoke temporarily shrouded the other ship from view.

A shout and a ragged cheer sounded from the crew perched in the rigging above.

Rodrigo strained to see what the cheering was about through the cannon smoke, his nervous energy bouncing him back and forth from side to side.

“Yes,” Helen called out from the quarterdeck as she peered through the spyglass at the slave ship. “Bring us to port, Katie. We’re coming alongside. Boarding parties, prepare for action to port.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Rodrigo called out while he peered through the slowly clearing smoke.

Then he saw what the others had seen. The slaver’s foremast was down, laying across the starboard bow and dragging a sail in the water like an anchor. The crew aboard the Sultanate ship worked in a frenzy to clear the mast and tangled lines.

Stefan shook his head. They’d never get it cut away and cleared before the Vengeance pulled alongside.

He looked left and then right. His nervous energy had infected his boarding party. They all leaned forward, bouncing like on coiled springs in anticipation for the order to leap over the rail and onto the other ship.

“Be ready, ladies and gentlemen. It’s about to be our turn to join this fight.”

Rodrigo returned his attention to the angle of the two ships. It looked like they were going to crash together but he had faith in the first mate and especially Katie at the helm. They’d turn at the last instant, bringing the two ships together but not hard enough to do any significant damage to either hull.

Sure enough, Helen barked another order and Katie spun the wheel, heeling the ship around to starboard. A grinding squeal sounded as the two hulls rubbed against each other.

“Go get her back, Mr. Dumont,” Helen ordered.

“Let’s go get the Captain back!”

Rodrigo’s shout was followed by a massed cheer from the boarding party. The line of boarders charged forward, the fastest among them outpacing their leader. Those leaders reached the side first and launched themselves off the top of the Vengeance’s rail and across to the slaver’s ship.

A few were hit by a ragged musket volley and fell down into the gap between the ships. A few others were cut down by the slavers as they landed on the other vessel.

Then the rest of the boarding party crossed over in an unbroken line and they hit the crew assembled to repel boarders like a wave crashing over a line of pitiful sand castles on the beach.

The Vengeance’s boarding party fought with an intensity Rodrigo hadn’t seen in them before, despite all the fights they’d been in.

Even the wounded somehow got back to their feet, picking up weapons from the fallen and jumping back into the fray.

Rodrigo drew his second pistol and fired it into the chest of a slaver standing over one of his boarding party readying a killing blow. He fell backward and Rodrigo leaned over and pulled his crewmate to her feet.

The woman, a stout and able seaman named Hilda hefted her cutlass and nodded a thank you at Rodrigo before charging at a pair of slavers who attacked a lone comrade.

Rodrigo turned and jumped to the defense of another crewman as the slaver crew’s counter assault started to press them back against the rail. The tide of the initial attack had turned as reinforcements arrived from below decks.

As he parried a slashing scimitar aimed at his head, he wondered if Cari had managed to put the rest of her plan in place.

———

Cari listened to the clash of steel filtering down from above and turned to the twenty-three fishermen and women assembled behind her at the foot of the ladder.

“That’s the boarding party from my ship fighting up above. Now’s our chance to lend a hand and try and tip the odds in our favor.”

“But we don’t have any weapons, miss,” a dark-haired woman said.

“Let me lead the way to take on the first slavers we encounter. Pick up any loose weapons lying about as you see them. You won’t be unarmed for long.”

She scanned the group one last time for any questions. When no one said anything else, she smiled to reassure them.

“Follow me. It’s time to win our freedom.”

Cari climbed up through the hatch to the deck above them. She figured they were two levels below the main deck and open air.

Most of the slavers should be up there by now, trying to repel the boarding party.

She was correct, but there were still armed stragglers roaming the lower decks. The first slaver she encountered seemed puzzled by the nearly naked slaves charging up out of the hatchway at him.

He backpedaled, reaching for the scimitar at his waist.

Cari jumped forward, launching a perfect snapping front kick to his chin. The ball of her bare foot impacted, wrenching his head around. She felt his neck snap resonating up her leg.

She didn’t know why but killing someone that way seemed more personal than stabbing them with a knife or sword. A twinge of nausea roiled in her gut.

2,500 experience

Merk scooped up the slaver’s scimitar and followed her along the narrow passageways and storage rooms of the deck they were on until they reached the next set of steps upward.

Along the way, Cari knocked down two more slavers skulking down here rather than heading up to join the fighting above.

Her escaped slaves made short work of them, appropriating their weapons, too.

Before she headed up to the final sub-deck beneath the main deck, Cari turned and reassured her team.

“We’ll run into more on the next deck up. It’ll be more open, too, so be ready. Just pair up and help each other out. Come on.”

She started up the steps and as soon as she cleared the hatch to the next level, a slaver ran over to engage her.

Cari blocked the first slash with her smaller knife, catching the descending scimitar blade on the narrow guard above her hilt.

She punched twice hard into the man’s throat as they pressed their weapons between them. The slaver’s eye’s widened as his windpipe spasmed and he suddenly couldn’t breathe.

He dropped his scimitar and clutched his throat with both hands. Cari stabbed forward with her long belt knife three times until the slaver collapsed at her feet.

2,500 experience

The rest of the escaped slaves in her group boiled up from below, passing around her to either side, racing forward to engage the ten remaining slaver crew members in sight.

Cari winced as a few of her team were cut down immediately, but then they swarmed over the slavers and killed them in short order.

She knelt down and picked up the scimitar at her feet, opting for the longer reach of the unfamiliar weapon over the more familiar but smaller knife. She still held the knife in her off hand, with the scimitar in her left.

“Get their weapons and come on. We have to get on deck. They’ll need our help. When we get up there, head straight for the officers on the quarterdeck. If we can get to the captain and take command of the ship, we will win the day.”

Cari checked her status menu and in particular her power-up bar. It was half full, and she was counting on it filling completely in time for her to use it against the captain and his officers on the quarterdeck.

She led the group towards the stern, looking for an access to the main deck. They reached the steep set of stairs leading upwards and Cari had to jump back. A slaver stood there, and he shouted a warning up through the hatch before turning to face her and the others.

She admired him for holding his position and remaining at his post against impossible odds. Even with her unfamiliarity with the scimitar, Cari still managed to finish him after crossing blades with him only a few times.

2,500 experience

She didn’t finish him off quickly enough, unfortunately. A line of slavers descended and came at her group. Cari started to join the fight when a massive figure climbed down the stairs. It was the orc she’d fought at the village.

He took one look at Cari, her face and hands bruised from her fighting and escape, and he grinned, showing his tusks in a fierce display meant to demoralize his opponents.

Cari had to admit it worked, at least in part.

She was going to have to power up and activate her burst of speed sooner than she’d wanted. There was no help for it, though.

Cari ducked under the first swing of the heavy falchion wielded by the Orcish slaver. His swing was somewhat confined by the low-ceilinged deck on which they fought. It gave Cari an advantage.

Her arm snaked outward and she slashed the scimitar’s blade across his naked chest. Blood welled up in the six-inch gash and he growled at her for drawing first blood.

Her power-up meter inched higher, but it wasn’t near full yet. She needed a few more successful attacks.

Unfortunately, her opponent had other ideas.

He swung the larger weapon down at an angle forcing Cari to leap to the side to avoid the falchion’s heavy blade hacking into her thigh.

The slaver let the blade sink into the wooden decking next to Cari’s feet and he swung his feet upward while holding onto the hilt executing a twisting double kick at Cari’s head.

She managed to get a forearm up to block the first kick but the second one connected with her forehead. She stumbled backward, shaking off the stars she saw as a result of the blow.

Health damage — health -8

The accumulation of repeated head injuries was starting to take its toll on her. Cari started feeling her thoughts slowing, making her a little groggy.

She pushed through the fog over her brain in time to dodge the next two attacks before she tried an attack combination allowing her to roll forward and slice into the big slaver’s side.

Cari saw the white bone of his ribs as she laid open a flap of skin. It was likely a painful wound but not necessarily a debilitating one.

That observation was proven correct when the orc twisted his torso to an impossible angle for a person so large and heavily muscled. It allowed him to land an attack on Cari’s back that sent her sprawling to the deck.

Health damage — health -10

Fiery pain seared her back. It was probably only a glancing blow and not very deep but Cari was already injured from the previous fights and she couldn’t take too many more like it.

She needed maybe to land one more good attack in order to power up. She still wanted to save it for when she reached the quarterdeck, but Cari realized if she didn’t, she likely wouldn’t survive to make it up there.

Rolling up to her feet, Cari stomped her feet forward as she executed two lunges at the slaver’s chest. He easily batted them both aside, laughing as he did so.

The way he found her attacks humorous inflamed Cari’s anger. She finished her triple attack by stomping a third time. This time, though, she switched up her attack, twisting the lunge forward into a slash across the belly.

The changeup caught the orc by surprise. The tip of her curved scimitar blade slashed a one-inch deep gash across her opponent’s abdomen.

The orc howled with pain and rage while she shouted with triumph as her power-up bar flashed in the corner of her vision, showing it was full and ready to engage.

A quick glance at her hard-pressed comrades made the decision for her. She had to use it now, or they’d surely lose.

Cari activated her burst of speed just as the orc charged at her with his falchion raised for a killing blow.

Once again, everything slowed around her as the countdown clock of sixty seconds began ticking down. Cari ran at the now slowed orc slashing three times as she went past.

The first opened his belly up all the way, exposing his innards, the second went high to slice open his throat where blood spurted out in an almost graceful arc. The final blow came around and down on the back of his neck, hacking through his spine and halfway through his neck muscles causing his lower body to become paralyzed.

His muscles lost all function and the orc dropped straight to the deck. He was dead before he hit the wooden boards at his feet.

4,500 experience

Cari didn’t slow her attacks, hacking her way through the slavers crowded around the stairs up to the main deck. Freeing up her beleaguered allies who’d been fighting a losing battle against their attackers.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

She found herself standing at the bottom of the steps amidst a pile of bodies killed by her and the fighting slaves. Cari raced upward trying to force her way through the press of slavers at the top to get to the quarterdeck before she ran out of time and had to cool down.

More slavers fell to her blades as she ran past them, opening a path to the quarterdeck steps.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

The clock ticked downward and, with only ten seconds left and six slavers lined up at the bottom of the steps before her, Cari realized she was going to run out of time.

Her comrades from below had just reached the top of the stairs and spilled out onto the main deck, trying in vain to keep up with her. She’d easily outdistanced them.

Making the only decision she could and still have a chance of surviving. Cari drove forward into the six slavers at the bottom of the quarterdeck stairs.

Two fell right away, sliced nearly in half from the combined force of her attack’s speed and the power of her enhanced muscles behind it.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

She had five seconds left and four opponents.

Cari dove forward, bounding up and over all four of them, slicing down and across each of their throats as they stood in a line. It was a move she wouldn’t have believed possible if she hadn’t seen it herself.

Their life’s blood spurting from their laid-open necks, all four fell to the deck as Cari landed on the bottom two steps and the clock ticked to zero.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

At the same instant the final digits of the countdown message faded from view, she collapsed in exhaustion, flopping down like a dropped sack of grain as the power-down period began. Her arms felt like lead weights dragged them towards the deck and she nearly dropped the scimitar.

All she could do was wait. The cool-down counter read thirty seconds. She heard a burst of laughter over the sound of the fighting all around. It came from above and behind her.

Craning her neck around, Cari found the source. The slaver captain saw her fall. He now stood at the top of the steps, looming above her, a sneer on his face. He knew he had her right where he wanted.

There was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Chapter 31

Rodrigo caught a glimpse of a speeding blur out of the corner of his eye as he thrust his sword through a slaver’s throat.

He ducked under the spray of blood and searched until he found its source. Just as he’d hoped, there was Cari. She’d somehow managed to invoke her strange magical ability to speed up her reflexes once again.

She’d spun up out of the hatchway, tearing through the slavers like a whirling tornado. Then she stopped and collapsed at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the quarterdeck. The exhaustion that followed her use of that magic had hit her.

“Stefan!” Rodrigo shouted and pointed in Cari’s direction.

The other lieutenant parried a thrust at his chest, following with a riposte attack that ended with six inches of his sword poking through the slaver’s back.

He searched for the source of the person who’d called him and then followed Rodrigo’s pointing finger. A simple nod followed. Stefan had seen her, too.

Rodrigo lowered a shoulder to shove a slaver out of his way and raced towards Cari, cutting down anyone in his path. He killed several slavers and took a few minor wounds along the way. He didn’t care. He had to reach Cari’s side and protect her.

Stefan battled through a mass of slavers at the other end of the deck, trying to get there, too.

Rodrigo hoped against hope that one of them would get there soon. The slaver captain had seen her, and he started down the steps in her direction, his scimitar poised and ready to strike.

Rodrigo swung his blade from side to side, kicking out at one slaver with his back to him, sending him sprawling to the deck.

He didn’t bother to finish off the slaver crewman, his focus intent on only one thing: getting to Cari before the slaver captain did. Stefan battled through the press not far away, heading in the same direction.

They were both still so far away from her.

It was too far. Rodrigo pressed himself forward even harder.

———

Cari somehow managed to lift her arm and bring the scimitar up in a guard position over her. It was a gesture of bravado and nothing more. She didn’t have the strength to actually parry a strike.

The slaver captain seemed to know this and he flicked his blade out, easily batting her sword out of the way.

Cari stared up at him as he raised the blade over his head and brought it down at her face. Her final thought was wondering if her parents would miss her.

The curved blade descended at her and then stopped, running into a barrier formed by two crossed rapier blades.

Cari looked behind her.

Rodrigo and Stefan stood there, bloodied and battered but both extended in a lunge with swords outstretched over her. They caught the captain’s blade before it could reach her.

The two then leaped over her to charge up the stairs, their swords a blur as they pushed the slaver captain back up the stairs with attack after attack.

The captain was an excellent swordsman, probably a master in his own right. He managed to deflect most of the blows from the two lieutenants and even get in a few attacks of his own.

Stefan fell to one knee as a sweeping slash took him in the leg and cut deep into his thigh.

Rodrigo’s left arm hung bloody and useless at his side, but he kept the pressure on the slaver.

Cari could see he was at the limit of his ability. The captain had him outclassed. Without Stefan to help him push the captain back, Rodrigo was now the one being pressed backward.

Some of the strength started to return to Cari’s exhausted body. The cool down countdown clock was in its final ten seconds. Each tick of the clock seemed to last an eternity as she watched the two lieutenants fighting and losing above.

…3, 2, 1.

The clock ticked to zero. Cari stood, wounded but with muscles she could command again. She raced up the steps.

Stefan was down now, laying on his side, trying in vain to rise.

Rodrigo had retreated all the way to the stern rail where he fought a desperate battle to block the incoming attacks.

He was losing.

Cari dropped the scimitar, happy to lose the unfamiliar blade. She bent down and scooped up Stefan’s rapier from the deck next to him and charged at the captain’s back.

Rodrigo fell to the deck just before she got there and Cari’s cry of fear for her friend warned the captain of her arrival.

He ducked and twisted around, delivering a vicious backhand blow carried by the momentum of his turn.

Cari’s rapier thrust at the back of the slaver’s neck missed when he ducked and she barely got the long knife in her other hand down in time to keep the strike from hacking into her side.

Damn, he was quick. She’d assumed he wasn’t that good since he’d opted to send the orc to fight her in response to her challenge. Now she realized he’d done it to provide some sport for himself and his crew. That was all.

She parried the next incoming attack and growled deep in her throat. She wasn’t going to let this pig hurt her or anyone else ever again.

Blocking another attack, she surprised her opponent with a spinning roundhouse kick to his head.

She felt the heel of her bare foot connect with the side of his face. It made Cari shout a primal cheer as she came around and landed.

It was Cari’s turn to sneer.

The captain spat blood on the deck, along with a few teeth. He wiped at his bloody mouth with the back of his hand.

“You’ll pay for that, girl.”

“Better men than you have tried to collect on that. They’re all dead now. Care to join them. You can tell them in hell how you were taken down by a little girl.”

The captain’s eyes narrowed and he bellowed something unintelligible as he charged at Cari.

Taunt engaged

What had been carefully coordinated attacks by the captain before turned into a rage-fueled frenzy of chaotic blows.

Cari backed up, parrying attack after attack while she waited for her opportunity.

It came when he slipped on a puddle of blood on the deck. His arms spread wide in a reflex to catch his balance and Cari made her move.

Executing a perfect lunge, Cari, the rapier’s blade an extension of her own arm, thrust her sword into the captain’s heart.

He looked down at the thin metal blade lodged in his chest, disbelief showing in his eyes.

“Say hello to the others when you get to hell,” Cari said as she lifted her foot and shoved him off her sword and over the ship's rail into the dark waters below.

6,000 experience

Cari turned to look for other threats, but the escaped slaves she’d freed had come up and overwhelmed the rest of the crew on the quarterdeck.

Down on the main deck, Cari’s crew from the Vengeance had the situation in hand as well.

Cari, her aching hands still not fully healed from her escape from the manacles, dropped the rapier to the deck and walked over to the mast and used the belt knife to cut the line holding the Sultanate flag. The green banner with a crescent moon and crossed scimitars fluttered down to the deck.

A cheer went up from the Vengeance and was echoed by the crew on the deck below.

“Cari, Cari, Cari,” they all called.

She raised her hand in acknowledgment then waved when she saw Helen watching her from the quarterdeck of the Vengeance.

As soon as the fighting died down, Trina emerged from the hold along with all the other slaves. Standing next to the teenager, holding her hand as she looked around wide-eyed, was Jaycee. They’d done it. They’d freed the real lost princess.

Quest completed — retrieve the missing princess

15,000 experience

Chapter 32

“Where to next, Captain?” Helen asked.

Cari leaned over the chart table in her cabin and stared down. Both the Vengeance and the slaver’s ship, dubbed the Freeman by the freed slaves who now crewed it, were damaged and needed to find a safe harbor for repairs before they were caught by a sudden storm at sea so common at this time of year.

She studied the chart and their position on it after she’d done some calculations. Standing, she rubbed at the aching knuckles on her right hand. Despite a day’s rest and another round of her regeneration ability, the hand seemed to remember the pain of broken and dislocated bones in her escape from the manacles. Every now and then, a dull aching pain flared up for a few minutes.

Cari pushed it away and stopped rubbing her hand, ignoring the pain. She stabbed a finger down on the coastline.

“Morton Creek.”

“Not Tandon?” Helen asked.

“No, Morton Creek is closer, plus we need a place to safely refit. We can make Morton Creek from here in three, maybe four days. It would take well over a week to get back to Tandon from here.”

“You know that is closer to the Duke’s center of power in the capital. If he gets word you’re there, he might send people after you, especially since he knows about little Janey’s true identity.”

“We need to call her by her true name.”

“Alright, but it’s going to be harder to keep Jaycee safe that close to the capital.”

“I know, but I’m hoping we’ll be repaired and back to sea before anyone arrives looking for us.”

Helen put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Morton Creek it is. I’ll pass along the orders to the Freeman and we’ll get underway.”

The two ships were still tied together, mostly to allow them to transfer stores and medicine back and forth while they made what repairs they could at sea.

Helen started calling out orders even as she marched down the passageway from the captain’s cabin.

Cari smiled.

It was good to be back aboard the Vengeance and heading back to a friendly port. She didn’t tell Helen the other reason she wanted to go to Morton Creek.

There was a very good swordsmith there and Cari hoped Heath Fletcher could help her craft a new sword while they were in port. Ever since the slaver orc champion had snapped her beloved rapier in two with one mighty blow, Cari spent a lot of time thinking about how she’d go about crafting a new blade.

With Heath’s help and some luck, she might even be able to pull it off. She had a feeling that a good, reliable blade was going to come in handy before all was said and done. It was going to take a lot of fighting to get Jaycee back to her great-grandmother, the Empress.

A tap at her door pulled her back into the present.

“Come.”

Rodrigo and Stefan entered. They didn’t jostle for space on entering as they’d done in the past. The two lieutenants exchanged nods and Stefan gestured to let Rodrigo go first.

The move surprised her. She hoped it indicated the constant rivalry between the two of them, directed at her, was finally over.

Stefan followed his friend into the cabin and closed the door. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Captain, um, Cari. The two of us have something to say.”

“Yes,” Rodrigo added. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the two of us have been rivals in a bid to gain your attention for almost a year now.”

Cari hid a smile as she answered. “It has come to my attention. And?”

Rodrigo stopped with his mouth open as if trying to find the words to say next.

Stefan jumped in to continue their point.

“What Rod means is that we’ve been competing with each other to get your attention and it has sometimes affected our decisions and performance.”

“Go on.”

“Well,” Stefan continued. “After the fight on the slaver’s ship, we both decided to put the decision in your hands.”

Rodrigo found his voice again and chimed in.

“Yes, we want you to know that we’ll each respect the decision you make and step aside in favor of the one you choose.”

Cari stood behind her chart table, unable to fathom what prompted the two of them to bring this up now and in this way. They really wanted to force her hand and choose between them?

“What if I decide I’d like to choose both of you?”

“Um,” Stefan stammered. He cast a sideways glance at Rodrigo. “I suppose we could adjust to that if that is what you wanted.”

“Yes,” Rodrigo continued. “We can come up with a sort of schedule if you like, you know, for who is with you on which day.”

“Eww, no,” Cari laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way. What is it with you men and sex. I didn’t mean you both could share me. I meant that I would like to choose you both as friends and traveling companions, that’s all.”

The two men looked confused again. Cari resisted rolling her eyes. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings but, Lord, men were idiots sometimes.

“We are about to embark on a whole new quest and I need to know you’ll both be there at my side, to see it through to the end. We don’t have time for any encumbrances or extraneous relationships. We need to be comrades in arms. Can I count on you?”

That explanation caused a bit of disappointment if she judged the slumped shoulders correctly. Neither of them hesitated for a second when she asked if they were with her, though.

“You can,” they said in tandem.

“Good. Then let’s forget this little moment of awkwardness and get the ships underway.”

“Where to?” Rodrigo asked.

“It has to be Tandon, of course,” Stefan replied.

Cari shook her head. “Morton Creek.”

“What’s in Morton Creek,” Stefan asked. “It’s nothing but an abnormally large fishing town anymore.”

“It’s also a place we can safely leave a message for three friends of ours, right Rod? They should know who we’ve located. It might impact their plans for another imperial heir.”

“Indeed, it might,” Rodrigo replied.

“Good, because as soon as we get there, I’m leaving you behind to make your way to Liam, Chance, and Thad. I want to tell them about Jaycee and I don’t dare risk leaving a letter that might be intercepted and read.”

Rodrigo’s shoulders sagged as he realized she planned on leaving him behind when the Vengeance was repaired and ready to sail again.

“Don’t worry, Rod. We’ll catch back up with each other again.” Cari turned to Stefan. “I have something for you to do as well. You still technically hold a commission in the Duke of Tandon’s guard. I want you to carry the same message to the Duke and see what aid he can lend if it comes to an armed confrontation when we take her back to the capital. Can you do that?”

“If you’re not going back to Tandon,” Stefan asked. “Where will you go?”

“After we repair the ship, I’m going to take Jaycee and the Vengeance and head to Cairn Island until we can come up with a safe way to transport her to the Crystal City and reunite with her great-grandmother. Once we have word back from both of you, we’ll rejoin each other, either in Tandon or possibly here in Morton Creek and begin the journey to restore the Empress’ surviving crown princess to her.”

The two would-be-suitors shuffled their feet, unsure what to do with the directions they’d received. Cari decided they needed some additional orders.

“The two of you should get back on deck. Check in with the first mate see if you can help Miss Doolan get underway. The sooner we can get sailing, the sooner we’ll get started on our other important tasks.”

———

It ended up taking four days for the two ships to sail to Morton Creek. The slower Freeman held the Vengeance back from making her best speed to port.

The crew of the two ships continued making what repairs they could during the trip and the progress on the Freeman, in particular, surprised Cari.

The freed slaves made Merk, the fisherman who’d helped her escape, captain of the captured Sultanate vessel. The triangular sail configuration more closely resembled the sails used by the small fishing boats these folks were used to and they were able to effect repairs based on long years of practice, along with some trial and error.

By the time they made it to Morton Creek and sailed into the harbor, the Freeman’s damage, primarily limited to damage to the rigging and the foremast, was repaired. All that remained was to seat a new mast where the old one had been cut away. The captured ship would be ready to return the freed slaves to their villages again so they could begin rebuilding their communities.

Cari met Merk on the dock where both ships tied up.

“Captain,” Cari said. “Once again I must commend you and your crew on the speed and quality of your repairs. What are your plans once the new mast is in place?”

“Many of the folk wish to return to their villages and rebuild their lives and homes. We will return them to their homes.”

“You said ‘many.’ What of the others?”

“We have enough men and women to crew the Freeman and we’ve decided to take her into the mercantile trade here in the western end of the Empire.”

“An excellent decision. May I ask a favor of you for your first voyage?”

“Certainly, we owe you our lives.”

“I am sending Lieutenant Claridge back to Tandon with an important message. I see no other large vessels here in port and the overland journey will take far too long.”

“You’d like us to take the lieutenant with us and deliver your message? Of course, we’d be honored to help you in your continuation of your families calling to protect the Empress and the Empire from its enemies.”

Cari cocked her head to the side, curious at the last statement.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to hide it from us, Princess. We know who you are. Actually, when you look at all the evidence, it is surprising it took us all as long as it did to figure everything out. I suppose it’s hard to realize when a fairy tale told to you as a young child really comes true.”

Cari sighed. “I really have to stop playing the hero all the time.”

“What was that?” Merk asked.

“Nothing, I just hope I can rely on your discretion on revealing my identity. I’d just as soon remain just the Dread Raider Cari, captain of the Vengeance.”

“I can vouch for myself and most of the crew but the others are already ashore and I’m certain most of them are telling anyone who’ll listen about the daring rescue executed by the Lost Princess of legend. The story circulating on the Freeman of how you ripped the slaver’s manacles apart with your bare hands is spectacular enough that no one will believe it anyway.”

“I suppose I can’t run away from it too much longer; still, I’d like to hold off owning the title for just a little bit. It’s only going to make what I have to do even harder.”

“If there’s anything the Freeman’s crew or I can do to help you, you know you only have to ask.”

“For now, helping to deliver the lieutenant with his message for the Duke of Tandon is enough. I wish you luck on the final repairs and Godspeed on your journey. I have business to attend to in town. Farewell, Captain.”

“Farewell to you as well, Captain.”

Cari turned and started into town, leaving the hustle and bustle of the activity around the two ships behind her. She headed up the hill to see about crafting herself a new sword. It would be interesting to see what her friend, Heath, had been able to do with the crafting magic Cari taught him to use before she left almost a year ago.

Quest accepted — craft a new blade

Chapter 33

The steady rhythm of hammer blows sounded from within the smithy, announcing to Cari her friend was in his shop. The smithy had changed since she’d last been here. What had been an open forge with a roof overhead in a large spacious yard surrounded by a tall fence was now fronted by a little shop displaying various metal wares and weapons for sale while the smithy was now hidden behind the small building facing the street.

A young woman of perhaps fifteen years stood behind the counter in the shop. She smiled at Cari when she entered.

“Can I help you, ma’am? We have many fine things you might be interested in.”

“I actually came to see Heath. Is he in?”

“Mr. Fletcher is out back working, ma’am. May I tell him who is here calling on him?”

“I think I’d like to surprise him if you don’t mind.” Cari brushed past the shop girl and walked through the rear door of the shop into the forge yard behind it.

Sterling Fletcher, who looked to have grown close to six inches since she’d last been here, saw her first. He sat working at the grinding wheel, honing a new blade to razor sharpness. From what Cari could see of his work, he had picked up some of the crafting skill, too.

Sterling stood and reached out to clasp wrists with Cari when she entered the smithy yard behind the small store out front. “Cari, what are you doing back in town?”

“I came to visit you all, of course. I said I’d be back when I could.”

Heath, Sterling’s father, looked up from where he was working on a piece of steel bar stock. The metal glowed with a dull yellow hue from heating in the forge. He set the bar aside as a huge grin spread across his face. Heath’s smile, always infectious, brought a smile to her face as well.

“Cari, I can’t believe it’s really you. Have you been to the house yet? Becca and the other children will be so glad to know you’re in town.”

“I came here first, though I do intend to stop by and visit.”

“You’d better. Becca’d have both our hides if she found out you were in town and didn’t stop by to see her, too.”

Cari had lived with the Fletchers for a few weeks while she earned enough money to pay for her initial trip to Tandon a year before. It was then that she’d learned her smithing skills and leveled up her bladesmith skill several times until she became a master smith at blade craft.

“I am in need of a new blade, Heath, and I hoped you and I could talk about what might be needed to craft a new one. I have some ideas to improve the design I had from before and make it even better.”

“How could I say no to you. It was you who opened my eyes and my abilities to the possibilities lying within the blades and metal I’d never seen before. Do you know one of my swords took the prize as the best masterpiece at last year’s Crafters’ Fair in the Crystal City? Since then, my metal work has become the most desirable in the Empire and I’m back ordered for several months. I owe that to you.”

“Congratulations are in order then. You deserve the credit, too. I taught you what I could. It was your smithing skill and innovative thinking that took your blades to the next level. I’m hoping you can find the time over the next few days to help me with crafting my new sword?”

“Definitely. Let me finish what I’m doing here and then we can sit down in the front showroom and talk about the design you’re thinking of. In the meantime, Sterling will fetch you some refreshments and food.”

“That would be wonderful. Sterling, lead the way.”

They headed back into the shop out front. The shop girl seemed flustered about Cari’s intrusion in the forge. She reached out to grab Sterling’s arm, then dropped it, self-conscious at the sudden, unexpected physical contact with the strapping lad.

“I’m sorry, Sterling. I tried to stop her and ask about her business. She just pushed past me. Please tell your father it’s not my fault.”

“Don’t worry, Maisy. This is Cari Dix. She’s an old friend. She’s going to wait in here while father finishes the piece he’s working on. Can you go into the store room and bring out a bottle of wine and some of the biscuits mother sent in with us for lunch this morning? I think there are a few left.”

“Of course.”

Maisy, whose eyes had gone wide as saucers when Sterling mentioned Cari’s name, performed an awkward curtsy and rushed into the back of the small shop.

“She’s a cute one, Sterling.”

The boy blushed and Cari laughed. “Did I detect a little something going on between you two?”

“Well, we have been talking together a lot since Father hired her. She’s the daughter of a dry goods merchant down near the docks and he was glad to find work for her because his older children already run his shop.”

“Oh, so she’s not only cute, she’s also connected to another guildsman in town, too. She’d be a catch.”

“You sound like my mother. She’s been saying much the same for the last few weeks and has been after me to ask her back to the house after work for dinner.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, Sterling, but you should listen to your mother. She has good instincts. I think she gets them from Grandma Gerald. Speaking of whom, I don’t suppose my arrival happens to fall at the same time as her regular trip here to visit.”

“No, you just missed her. Granny left a few days ago. She’ll be angry she didn’t see you. She was just remarking on all the incredible stories we keep hearing about you from sailors in port and from the few traveling bards who pass through.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Sterling. It’s all exaggerated.”

Maisy returned with two cups and a bottle of wine on a tray. There were also three fresh, flaky biscuits, arranged on a plate, too.

Cari picked up one of the biscuits and took a bite while Sterling poured the wine.

“Cari, it may be exaggerated, but Father says it can’t all be false. He said you’d proven your ability to do great things right here in this smithy. Did you really save Crown Prince Timron’s life?”

Reluctantly, Cari nodded. “But it wasn’t anything like the bards and troubadours tell it.”

“I’m sure. From the way they talk, you’re the Lost Princess returned.”

Maisy, standing nearby, blurted out a nervous laugh. She paused then her pent-up words blurted out in a stream. “Sterling, don’t you see. She is the Lost Princess. She’s not just the Dread Raider Cari we hear about from the few traders that come through the town. She is THE Cari Dix from all the old stories. My father says that with everything she’s done fighting the raiders, saving the Crown Prince, and more, that there’s no other explanation. She is the Lost Princess returned to save the Empire.”

Sterling smiled. “Maisy, she’s just Cari. She’s like a big sister to me and my siblings. I was joking about what my dad said. Cari stayed with us last year when she got stranded here. She worked here in this smithy for a time to earn her passage west. Does that sound like something a princess would do?”

“But you told me she taught your father something he’d never seen before, something that changed the way he made his sword blades. You called it magic.”

“I did say that, but it was just a figure of speech. I meant it was like magic. She’s just very talented and helped dad learn something new.”

“On top of that, she just admitted to saving the prince. That means she’s accomplished with a sword and in battle. She’s also the youngest captain anyone in these parts have ever heard of, and she has single-handedly fought off the raiders sailing all along the coast.”

Sterling started to argue, but Cari could almost see the wheels spinning in his brain, putting the pieces together. Maisy had made a strong argument and his affection for the girl helped him accept what she said and the arguments she made.

He glanced over at Cari as if appraising her in a different way.

She had to put a stop to this. “Sterling, does it really matter who I am. Even if I were some princess out of a fairy tale, it doesn’t change anything about how much I enjoyed staying with you and your family.”

“That sounds like you’re admitting to being the Lost Princess. Are you really her?”

Cari sighed. This was getting to be a routine thing it seemed. Despite her best efforts to deny it even to herself, the truth still found its way to the surface.

“Yes, Sterling. It’s all true. My father is Hal Dix. My mother is Mona. But to you, I’m still the same Cari you knew before. I don’t want any of that other stuff to change anything between your family and me.”

“Change what?” Heath asked, entering the shop, wiping his hands on a dirty white towel he had draped over his shoulder.”

Maisy pointed at Cari. “She just admitted to being the Lost Princess, Master Heath. Sterling didn’t believe me until I proved it to him.”

Heath smiled. “Sterling, you needed her to convince you after all you’ve seen Cari do with your own eyes?”

Sterling stared at his father, his mouth hanging open.

“Close your mouth, boy. You’ll catch flies. Your grandmother put it together first, soon after the first story-teller came to Morton Creek with the tales of the way she rescued the prince. Your mother and I thought about it and decided we agreed with Granny’s theory. The three of us also decided, Granny along with your mother and I, that since Cari didn’t want to make a big deal about it, we wouldn’t either. Everyone needs a place to call home. We decided to be that sort of place for Cari. We owe her that much, right?”

“I don’t suppose I can swear you all to secrecy, can I?” Cari asked.

“It’s not really a secret anymore, is it?” Heath remarked.

“No, I suppose not. I just don’t like all the attention.”

Heath threw his head back and laughed aloud. “You should stop saving princes and rescuing people from raiders and slavers, then. Come on into my office. We’ll talk about the new sword you need. I have some ideas, too, now that you’re here. Sterling, you and Maisy close up the shop and then you can walk her home.”

Sterling nodded, then blushed when he saw the smile on Maisy’s face.

Cari got up to follow Heath and walked into a room off to the side of the shop. It was small, but there was space enough for a desk and two chairs.

Heath sat down behind the desk; Cari in front of it. He pulled out a piece of chalk and leaned over the desk. The wooden planks on the top had been painted black and he started sketching right on the desktop.

“I assume you want something like the modified rapier you used before.”

“Yes, it’s the blade I’m most used to.”

“I agree. Given your size and quickness, it’s the right blade for you. It just suits you somehow. Now, tell me about the modifications you were thinking about and how you think we can make them work without weakening the blade or adding to its weight.”

The two of them settled into a lengthy discussion about the design of her blade. An hour and a half later they’d come up with a prototype drawing of the sword she’d envisioned.

There were a few modifications suggested by Heath based on his experience with some new alloys he’d developed and the way the blade should be tempered. Overall, if they could pull it off, it was going to be a blade better than any she’d ever used before.

As they left the smithy, having agreed on the design, it was already dark out.

“Are you sure I cannot convince you to come by and join us for dinner tonight? Becca will be so disappointed she missed you.”

“Tell her I’ll come tomorrow night for sure. I have to get back to my ship and check on the schedule and progress of the repairs.”

“I’ll hold you to that. If you don’t show up, Becca’s likely to come down and drag you back to dinner herself.”

“Sounds like she is taking after her mother,” Cari laughed.

“You have no idea,” Heath said, laughing along with her.

The two clasped wrists and Cari headed back down the hill, back to the harbor and her duties as captain.

Chapter 34

The following morning, Cari stood on the dock with Merk, Stefan, and Rodrigo. On one side of the wooden pier floated the Freeman and opposite it, on the other side, was the Vengeance.

“Merk, good luck and Godspeed on your journey.”

“Thank you, Cari. Don’t worry, I’ll get the Lieutenant here to Tandon in one piece.”

“Good. Stefan, do you have everything you need to pass along my concerns to the Duke and my plans about what is going to happen next?”

“I do.” Stefan patted his belt pouch. “You explained everything very clearly, and I’ll be sure to add my own assessment of everything based on what I’ve seen.”

“Good. You both should be on your way. The tide waits for no one.”

Captain Merk nodded and turned to board the Freeman, calling out orders as he went.

Rodrigo and Stefan clasped wrists.

“Be careful on the journey, Stefan.”

“Don’t worry about me, Rod. I’m just traveling a week by boat. The raiders have mostly been tamed. It should be an easy trip. You’re the one who should watch your back.”

Rodrigo shrugged. “I’ve got a cross-country journey with plenty of inns and farmsteads in which to rest my weary bones. I’ll be fine.”

“Stefan is right, Rodrigo,” Cari added. “If the Duke of Charon gets word of your trip to find Liam and the others, or if any of his henchmen find out who you are and get word back to him, he’ll stop at nothing to track you down and stop you any way he can.”

“I’ll watch my back, Cari. I’m more concerned about you.”

“I am, too,” Stefan added. “Who’s going to watch your back?”

“Helen will keep me straight, I’m sure. Plus, I’ve got the whole crew of the Vengeance to back me up.”

Captain Merk called from the Freeman to the group. “Lieutenant, if you’re traveling with us, you’d better get on board.”

Stefan saw the last of the hawsers dropping into the harbor, having been untied from the pier. A few crewmen on the former slave ship hastened to pull the thick mooring ropes back on board as the ship started to drift away from its position at the dock.

With a final wave to Cari and Rodrigo, he ran across to the side of the dock and leaped across the widening gap to land safely on the deck of the Freeman. He turned and waved back at them.

Above him, the Freeman’s sails unfurled and caught the breeze, carrying the former slave ship out into the harbor.

Cari and Rodrigo returned the wave and then walked down the dock to a horse tied up to a hitching post at the end of the pier. Rodrigo checked the saddle and girth one more time while Cari waited.

In a single sweeping motion, he pulled himself up into the saddle and settled on his mount.

“Like Stefan said, be careful.”

“I’ll be back before you know it, our friends in tow. Then we can get the princess to her great-grandmother where she’ll be safe.”

“I’ll be waiting. If I have to leave Morton Creek for any reason, I’ll leave word at the smithy owned by Heath Fletcher up near the old castle on the hill.”

Rodrigo leaned down and clasped wrists with Cari then wheeled his mount around, trotting up into town towards the north gate.

Cari glanced up at the sky. The sun was already climbing higher than she’d expected. Heath was going to wonder where she was. Cari turned and started up the hill towards the castle. It was time to start working on her blade.

———

The elongated bar of glowing metal stretched out even farther as Heath pounded on it with powerful, yet precise blows from his hammer. He had folded the metal back on itself nearly a hundred times, working different trace materials into each succeeding layer, creating a unique alloy of steel just for Cari.

As he pounded on this final layer, laminating the steel alloy to the layer beneath, a purple aura began to appear around the bar. It wasn’t an effect of the glow from the extreme heat of the forge. This was something else.

“Heath, can you see anything different about the steel right now.”

The smith squinted through the heat as he leaned over the glowing metal. He stared at it for a few long seconds before he turned and shot Cari a broad grin.

“If you’re referring the purplish haze I now see around the outline of the steel, then yes, yes I do. What is it?”

“I think it’s a guide, sort of like what I showed you with the sharpening wheel before. Let me try something.”

Cari focused on the aura while activating her bladesmith skill. As soon as she did, the aura intensified and shifted until she saw areas on the bar of yellow glowing metal where the purple aura was stronger than others.

“There, at the end,” she said. “Can you see the area that looks a little brighter than the others? That is where you start shaping the point of the blade.”

Heath shoved the bar back into the coals and Cari reached over and worked the massive forge bellows, pumping oxygenated air into the base of the forge until the coals glowed white-hot.

Heath left the bar in the coals a few seconds longer then pulled it out and began hammering on one end, following the pulsing purple glow around, using it as a template until he’d formed a tapered point to the blade. He returned the blade to the forge before starting on the next part of the template the glowing aura showed them.

Cari and the big smith worked all day until darkness settled in. The final shape of the long, thin blade resembled her old sword, but this one had been crafted of layered steel with a unique alloy combination that left a beautiful patina of gray swirls on the surface of the metal.

“We can return to this tomorrow. I need a break,” Heath said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “Using the magic, or whatever it is you’ve shown me, is more exhausting than normal metal work.”

“I think it’s because we’re infusing something from ourselves into the metalwork as we go.”

Heath nodded. “That would explain what I’m feeling. It’s as if I’m pouring part of my life into the crafting. This blade is going to be unlike anything seen here in Fantasma since the last of the great arch mages died.”

“It will be if we finish it. That’s going to take energy. Is that dinner invitation at your place still open?”

“Of course, Becca will be so happy to see you.”

Heath called out to his son, dozing on a stool in the corner, his work and chores long done. “Sterling, run along ahead to home and tell your mother we’re on our way. Cari is coming for dinner.”

“Yes, sir,” Sterling replied. He smiled and raced off down the hill towards their home.

“After you, ma’am.” Heath gestured to the gate out to the street.

Together, the two of them went to get a much-needed meal, replenishing the energy spent on the forging of the blade.

It ended up taking four days of hard work before the forging of the blade was finished. At the end of the fourth day, it was tempered and hardened and ready for the final stage on the sharpening wheel.

This was where Cari was to take over the lead, putting an edge on the blade and doing the final work to shape the capabilities infused into the sword.

It was Heath’s turn to look over her shoulder, offering tips and encouragement to her as she took her time working on the spinning stone with the sword.

As she’d seen before when working in the forge on her old blade, several colors showed in the blade’s core. Each represented a potential possibility for where she could go with the blade.

Cari didn’t want to settle for just one aspect of the sword’s capabilities, though. In the past, she’d focused on speed. Now she also wanted to access the endurance and strength enhancing the edge could achieve. She thought about using some of the other alternative grinding patterns she could see highlighted by the glowing colors.

As she worked the foot pedal, turning the stone beneath the blade, Cari leaned forward and peered at a point on the blade where the different colors of the blade’s core intersected. The blue, yellow, and red lines crossed at a position that glowed with a white nimbus.

Sliding the sword with smooth precision across the grinding wheel, Cari focused on the white nexus and as she worked it, the white glow expanded, guiding her hands as she followed it.

“Cari, I’ve never seen that before,” Heath whispered from beside her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not sure…” Cari trailed off. She was lost in the work.

Cari worked for what felt like ages, sweat beading on her brow, dripping down her face. She followed the guides she saw in the white overlay on the blade. Finally, the white glow flashed and faded out. Cari lifted the sword from the stone, turning it in her hand as she gazed at the gleaming metal.

“It is finished.”

Cari stood and slid a wooden hilt blank over the metal tang, then threading the steel ball over the end to secure the handle in place. It still needed a leather or cord wrap to improve the grip, but the sword was essentially complete.

Swinging the blade in a graceful arc, she marveled at the exceptional balance. It was as if it were an extension of her left arm. That was something her instructors had always told her to seek out when selecting a weapon. In this case, it was as if she could feel the air passing over the blade’s tip like it was the tip of her finger.

Swinging the sword in more complex patterns, Cari truly felt a link between her hand and the blade, extending her body’s sense of self out to the end of the blade’s tip.

She focused inward and pulled up her weapons menu. The blade showed there at the top of the list.

Enchanted blade — the Duelist

+5 defense

+3 to hit/damage

20% chance for critical hit during riposte attacks

Heath held out his hand. “May I?”

Cari reluctantly handed the blade to the smith. Heath swept it through his own combination of moves, a childish grin on his face.

“I thought I had reached the pinnacle of my smithing ability the last time you came to visit. I was wrong. You should come back and visit Morton Creek more often.”

He offered her the blade, hilt first.

“Cari, this is cause for celebration, plus Becca has a surprise for you. Let’s head to the house and eat dinner on time for a change.”

“I’d like that. It’s been a pleasure being here this week. It reminds me of home and my parents.”

“It’s been our pleasure to open our home up to you once again, even if it is only for an occasional meal.”

The two of them set out for Heath’s home, arriving to find a full meal set and waiting for them. Becca stood by the hearth, stirring a large black pot suspended over the flames in the fireplace.

The meal filled Cari to the brim and left no room for even a sliver of dessert. As the children readied themselves for bed, Cari, Becca, and Heath sat by the hearth.

The smith’s wife had a huge grin on her face as she reached into the needlework basket by her chair and pulled out a small bundle, wrapped in a white cloth. She handed the bundle to Cari.

Cari took the bundle and looked from Heath to Becca. “What’s this?”

“It’s a small thank you from us,” Becca said. “You have done so much to improve our lives with all the special crafting tricks you’ve taught Heath.”

Cari smiled and unwrapped the bundle to reveal a six-inch tube fashioned from strange pebbled leather. She was confused and looked up at her hosts, a puzzled look on her face.

“It’s from a trader from the far east. There are great reptiles in the rivers there. This is crafted from a piece of leather I purchased for Heath to use in the crafting of grips for the swords he creates. I used it to create a special grip for you. The hide will not slip in your grip, even when wet.”

“This is wonderful, Becca, thank you. I’ll work on adding it to the blade tonight before I sleep. I’ll be sure to show it to you tomorrow on my way to the smithy.”

“Why come back to the smithy?” Heath asked. “Your sword is done.”

“I know, but I’d like to work on a few enhancements for my officers. My first mate, in particular, could use a proper blade instead of a standard cutlass.”

“You have the pick of my stock, Cari. With what I’ve learned from you this week, I’ll take the best in show again this coming season in the capital, and no one wins two years in a row.”

“Cari, why don’t you stay here, tonight? It’s late to be wandering back to the docks and we have a spare room for you. You’ll be that much closer to the smithy and can get an early start when Heath leaves to open up in the morning.”

“I’d like that very much. I would like to get to work on this hilt, though. I hate to leave this unfinished.”

Becca smiled. “I have some spider silk thread. It’s nearly unbreakable and would be perfect to help you wrap that hide around the hilt.”

Heath stood and stretched his arms wide while he yawned. “If you ladies are going to work on that before bed, I’ll be off to sleep. I’m tired from all the energy spent today and I’d like to be at the shop early to get started on some new project ideas sparked by Cari’s improved crafting methods.”

“Sleep well, Heath and thank you for your continued hospitality. See you in the morning.”

Cari turned her attention to the sword hilt in her hand and wrapped the pebbled hide around the wooden grip to test the fit. It would take a little trimming and thread work, but she was sure when they were done, it would be the perfect way to complete the blade.

Becca returned with a small, tightly wrapped ball of thick thread.

“This spider silk has been spun into a thread tougher than any I’ve seen. Hold up your sword and let me see it. We both can work on this together.”

Cari leaned forward and started in on the final part of the project to create herself a new sword. It took them almost two hours to get the fit just right and to stitch the hide around the hilt in such a way that the stitching was hidden from view.

When they finished, Cari held up the modified rapier and tested the grip in her hand. It fit her hand just as they’d planned. She liked the warmth of the pebbled hide under her fingers. It almost seemed to grip her hand back.

“This is perfect, Becca. Thank you.” Cari stifled a yawn. “It is late. I think it is time to turn in.”

“Let me get you a towel and a pitcher and wash basin so you can wash up before bed.”

The two women left to get Cari’s bed together and Cari thought about how lucky she was to have good friends like the Fletchers. They, and others like them, were part of what made Fantasma special to Cari.

She drifted off to sleep with her hand resting on the newly crafted hilt of her sword. She had a blade of her own again.

Quest completed — craft a new blade

15,000 experience

Chapter 35

Cari woke to Becca shaking her shoulder.

“Cari, get up. There are soldiers everywhere. I heard from a neighbor they are marching in the north gate.”

“Soldiers? What kind of soldiers?”

“I don’t know. They are wearing green tabards with gold trim. It is a crest I have never seen before, not that I’ve seen many soldiers at all besides the occasional Imperial courier.”

“Green and gold means they’re probably from the Duke of Charon’s forces. He must have discovered where we were.”

Cari sat up and started pulling on her boots. “Are they searching the houses?”

“No,” Becca replied. “There is a group of four of them just standing at the corner on the way to Heath’s forge. They are stopping and questioning everyone passing by.”

“They’re looking for me. Where’s Heath?”

“He got up early like he said. I think he was already out and at the forge before they started coming into town.”

“Becca, I’ve got to get out of here without them seeing me leave your house. If they do, they’ll lock up all of you for helping me.”

“You can go out the back gate. I don’t think anyone is in the alley. You should be able to slip past them if they’re not paying too much attention.”

Cari finished getting dressed, splashing fresh water on her face to wake up and then pulling back her hair into a ponytail. She didn’t have time to braid it as she usually did in the morning.

Strapping her dagger’s sheath to her right thigh and slipping her sword baldric diagonally over her shoulder, Cari felt better right away now she was armed.

“Becca, keep the children indoors and if the soldiers start searching the homes, cooperate with them. They don’t like those who offend them and won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way.”

“What about Heath?”

“There’s nothing to tie him to me so he should be fine, but you can send Sterling to warn him if you want. Just caution your son to be polite to the guards and tell them he’s on his way to work. They’re looking for me and a young girl, not a boy his age.”

Becca took Cari to the back door and out through their family garden to the fence that bordered the end of their property. A wide gate stood next to a small stable and shed.

“Go left after you pass through the gate to take you to the next street down. You should be able to sneak past the soldiers with some luck.”

“Thank you, Becca. I don’t know how I can repay you for the hospitality you’ve shown me once again.”

“Nonsense, my mother would have my hide if I let anything happen to you. She thinks of you like another grown granddaughter.”

“Pass along my regrets that I missed her when she comes for her next visit.”

“I will. Now you scoot before they decide to start searching the neighborhood.”

Cari hugged Becca and slipped through the gate, following her friend’s directions to get her turned towards the harbor.

Quest accepted — reach the Vengeance

All she had to do was get down to her ship. Once there, she could sail away and leave the Duke’s men behind her.

At the place where the alley crossed the street a block away from the talking guards, Cari decided to chance it and just cross as if she belonged there.

Just before she entered the far side of the street and the entrance to the next alley, a gruff voice called out.

“You there, girl, come over here. We have some questions for you.”

Cari waved at them, calling out, ”Sorry, I’m already late for work.”

She didn’t wait for their answer or to see if they ran after her. As soon as she entered the alley on the far side and was out of sight, Cari broke into a sprint. She had to get away and break contact before she headed towards the harbor.

The Duke likely knew she came there in her ship. She didn’t want to get bogged down in a fight this far away from the Vengeance. Cari knew she would probably have to fight her way to the ship once she reached the harbor itself.

Shouts sounded behind her and a quick glance over her shoulder had her cursing under her breath. Two of the guards followed her down the alley. She turned back around and concentrated on getting away from her pursuers.

Picking up speed, Cari exited the alley onto the next street down from Becca’s house. She turned down the larger street to try and mingle in the growing hustle and bustle of a normal market morning in Morton Creek.

As she reached the first major cross street, she ran right into two green-clad guardsmen. They all fell to the cobblestone street in a jumble of tangled limbs and curses.

Hands grabbed at her, trying to keep her from rising and continuing her flight.

Cari jerked her elbow backward trying to shake off the hand that grabbed at her arm. A satisfying crunch and a cry of pain and alarm told her she’d broken one guard’s nose. If she managed to get out of this pile of bodies in the middle of the street, she planned to do a lot more than that.

Cari kicked out hard with her boot and connected with one of the guard’s stomach, knocking the air from his lungs in a whoosh.

With one guard rolling around and clutching his broken nose and another on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath, Cari found herself finally able to roll to her feet.

It was just in time.

The two guards who’d chased her into this intersection arrived, swords drawn.

Cari drew her new sword. It was time to blood the blade.

Pulling her dagger free from its scabbard with her right hand, she extended the arm out and pointed it at one of the guards, gesturing with her fingertip for him to come get her.

He obliged.

Their swords crossed once, twice, then Cari spun away, parrying a third attack with her dagger.

Her spinning move foiled the attack from behind by the other standing guard.

Cari needed to finish this quickly before the two injured guards recovered.

She surprised the second attacker by diving in his direction, rolling back to her feet under the attacks aimed where her head had been a second before.

Leading with her sword, she thrust upward. The freshly sharpened alloy blade sliced into her opponent’s stomach and pierced all the way upward to his heart eventually exiting from the top of his shoulder.

With a gurgling gasp, he fell over backward, sliding off her blade.

2,500 experience

As the dead guard fell away, she turned and caught his companion’s downward blow on her dagger.

Parrying the guard’s heavier blade with her dagger in one hand, Cari brought her rapier around and scored a deep thrust into his thigh.

The guard staggered backward, blood streaming down his leg as he tried to shift his weight to the uninjured side.

Cari lunged forward with a feint.

The man’s sword came down, taking the bait.

She stepped on the middle of the sword with her boot, stomping downward. The blade bent and then snapped in two, the end clattering to the cobblestones.

Having the advantage now, Cari snapped off three attacks in rapid succession, laughing with joy at the superior quickness of her new, enchanted blade.

One thrust, then a slash, followed by a final thrust to the throat finished off the guard.

2,500 experience

There was no time to celebrate, though. Searing pain flashed across her shoulders as the guard with the broken nose slashed at her unprotected back.

Health damage – health -15

Cari whipped around and blocked the follow-up blow with both her sword and dagger catching the heavy saber blade between them. A twist of her wrist flipped the sword from his hands.

Surprise filled his face as he backpedaled to escape her follow-up string of attacks.

He gained the momentary break he needed to recover his weapon from the street when his companion, the final guard, dove in at Cari from the side and tackled her to the ground.

She landed hard on the cobblestones, her head slamming back so hard she saw stars for a second.

Health damage — health -10

The guard on top of her wrestled to get a grip on her wrists and immobilize her with his superior bulk and strength.

Shifting her grip on the dagger, the only option in these close quarters, Cari pulled the guard closer with her other arm while she plunged the dagger down into his back twice.

The guard arched his back at the pain and rolled to the side, allowing Cari to roll in the opposite direction.

She popped back to her feet just in time to parry the other guard’s sword.

For a few seconds, it was a flashing blur of sword thrusts, parries, ripostes, and retreats. Then Cari saw her opening and drove her blade forward taking the man in the eye and piercing his brain.

The man stiffened and fell over backward like a felled tree.

2,500 experience

The final guard didn’t bother to pick up his dropped sword. He took one look at the carnage around him, turned, and ran away.

Cari was tempted to chase him down but decided she’d better get to the Vengeance and make sure the ship and Princess Jaycee were safe.

Ten minutes later, after avoiding several patrols and checkpoints of the Duke’s guards, Cari made it to the harbor.

The sound of steel on steel rang out as she got closer and rounding the corner, Cari saw her crew arrayed at the end of the pier, blocking access to the ship.

Facing them was a platoon of the Duke’s guard.

The two sides were evenly matched. Cari saw, however, that the battle could go either way. If any more of the Duke’s troops arrived, the fight would immediately shift against her crew.

Checking her power up in the corner of her display, Cari saw the satisfying flash of a fully activated bar.

She had to get closer before she put her plan in motion but it would shift the balance enough that the crew could disengage and pull back to the ship so they could flee Morton Creek.

Once they were at sea, Cari would figure out what to do next.

For now, she needed to get as close as possible without being seen by the Duke’s men.

The docks were cleared; There were no crowds of onlookers with which she could mingle and hide her approach.

She didn’t blame the citizens of the city. No one from Morton Creek had any desire to get involved in a pitched battle with a trained soldier.

The officer in charge of the detachment of the Duke’s soldiers stood a few feet behind them ordering them to press harder to break through to the ship.

Behind him was a row of market stalls and Cari picked out the route she could use to advance on the rear of the line of soldiers.

Shifting to the opposite side of the building she was hiding behind, she looked once to make sure no one was watching her way and then she ran as fast as she could for the first in the line of stalls.

The simple structures were a basic four pole framework, with a shelf at the front and a backing of slats that could be used to hang goods on hooks inserted into the narrow gaps between them. Some of the stalls had tarps to protect the vendors from sun and rain, but not all of them.

Cari reached the first stall and crouched down. She heard no cry of alarm over the din of the fighting nearby. No one had seen her.

A shout of triumph rang out and the officer called out orders.

“Break open that gap. Push them back and set fire to that ship. I want every soul aboard her killed.”

Slipping around the corner and checking on the battle, Cari saw several of her crew down and Helen Doolan fighting to fill the gap with a few extra sailors she’d held in reserve.

They weren’t going to be enough. Cari could see that much.

Risking someone seeing her, she darted down the entire line of stalls in one loping sprint, sliding to a stop at the last one in the row.

She didn’t halt for long. Her crew was dying. She had to join the fray.

Cari opened her skill menu and activated her flashing Burst of Speed. Without even waiting for it to take full effect, she turned the corner and charged at the center of the Duke’s line.

Aiming for the guard captain while the timer clock started ticking down, Cari drove into the man from behind, leading with both her blades, the dagger held high and the rapier held low.

The officer had opened his mouth to call out more orders but all that came out was a horrible cry of pain as the two blades skewered him like a slab of meat destined for the barbecue.

5,000 experience

Cari didn’t wait for gravity to pull him off her blades; instead she drove forward using her increased speed to propel the dead officer into the back of his battle line.

Two of the guardsmen toppled over and were immediately killed by the cutlasses of Cari’s crew.

A ragged cheer went up as word passed down the line that their captain had arrived.

She had no time for accolades. She pressed onward. She had to use up every last bit of advantage her power-up gave her.

Cari kicked the captain out of her way and charged down the left-hand side of the line of guardsmen. If she could fight her way through this group, she’d take the pressure off Helen trying to hold the breech in the crew’s line.

A few of the guardsmen saw her coming and managed to react despite her increased speed. One even snaked a saber thrust past her whirling blades and slashed open a gash in her side as the charged by.

She killed him and two of his companions without slowing, though the wound in her side flashed like her insides were on fire.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Health damage — health -16

A glance at her timer showed thirty seconds remaining. She had a long way to go and a lot of guardsmen between her and the gap Helen now held alone.

Both the first mate’s companions were down on the planks of the pier at her feet.

Cari had to get to Helen which meant pushing forward without regard to any defensive action on her part.

This was going to hurt, maybe even kill her, but she couldn’t give up without trying.

Pressing onward, Cari began an all-out attack, avoiding return strikes when she could, but only if it didn’t get in the way of her continuous flurry of attacks.

The notifications piled up in her vision as she cut her way down the line.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Health damage — health -8

Health damage — health -7

2,500 experience

Health damage — health -9

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Almost there, Cari thought as yet another attack slipped by and cut her, this time piercing her shoulder. Her dagger dropped to the wooden planks of the pier as her right arm now dangled limp at her side.

Health damage — health -12

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

As the timer ticked downward, Five, Four, Three… Cari charged onward and took down three more guards despite only having one weapon remaining.

2,500 experience

Health damage — health -14

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Two, One… and Cari collapsed into Helen’s supporting arms as she killed the final two assailants fighting her first mate.

2,500 experience

2,500 experience

Her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath, her fatigue from the power-up’s cool down took over as she almost passed out. The exhaustion was nearly total.

She looked up as Helen lowered her to the planks of the pier’s decking. The crew surged past them, taking advantage of the damage their captain caused to the Duke’s guards.

“I’m back.”

“Yes, ma’am. I wish you wouldn’t always show up bloodied like a common cur after a dog fight.”

“Did you just call me a dog, Helen?”

“No ma’am, just a turn of phrase.”

“Good, get me back to the ship and pull the crew back on board.” Cari paused to catch her breath before continuing. “We set sail immediately. This is all a trap, and I’m not waiting for the other side to come down on us.”

“Yes, ma’am. Mr. McShea!”

Percy showed up at the first mate’s side. He held a cutlass and he had a gash above one eye. Cari didn’t have the energy or the time to berate Helen for letting the boy join the battle. She’d have to hold that for later, once they all were safe.

“Mr. McShea, help the captain get back aboard and tell Mr. Dawkins to pull as many people from the gun crews as possible and put them aloft. We set sail immediately.”

“Aye, ma’am. Captain, you’re bleeding again.”

“Yes, I am, Percy. Very good of you to notice. Now help me to my feet and let me lean on you while I walk back to the ship.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

The boy was surprisingly strong for his age and size and he nearly lifted her up by himself. She draped an arm across his shoulder and together they half limped, half shuffled back to the Vengeance.

Her power down period was almost complete by the time she arrived at the ship. As the haze of the power down timer cleared, Cari felt a little strength return, but not much. Her injuries were severe and blood loss weakened her with every second that passed.

“Help me across the gangplank to the ship, Percy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He grunted as he lifted her to her feet once again. He had more blood on him now, her blood. She was bleeding worse now than before and another damage alert appeared in her display.

Health damage — health -5

Health: 24/120

Cari stumbled a few times on the gangplank, but Percy kept her from toppling into the harbor. He got her across and lowered her to the deck by the base of the quarterdeck.

Quest completed — reach the Vengeance

8,000 experience

Katie came down from her place at the helm to check on the captain.

“Captain, let me go and get you a healing potion. You look like hell.”

“Gee, thanks,” Cari replied, chuckling at the remark. “Mr. McShea can do that. I need you at the wheel. Prepare to get the ship out of here and into open water. Don’t wait for Helen or the bosun to pass the order along. Once the sails are down and we can move, steer us for the harbor mouth. Got it?”

“Aye, ma’am. Look, the first mate is returning with the shore party now.”

“Then get back to your post. I’ll be alright here. Percy’s going to fetch me some healing, right, Mr. McShea?”

“Right away, ma’am.”

Cari slumped back against the wall while Katie returned to her post and Percy raced off below to bring back a healing potion or two even as more of her life’s blood dripped away to the deck.

She had no choice. She just had to wait for Percy to return. Hopefully, he came in time. More notifications slipped past her eyes, ticking away her health points.

Health damage — health -5

Chapter 36

While Cari lay bleeding against the quarterdeck cabins, Helen gathered the members of the shore party who were still alive and hustled them up the gangplank as fast as she could. More than half of them were wounded.

Francesca, limping from a wicked slash to her thigh, waved at Cari and then headed forward to help man one of the guns pointing inland. Crews were starting to load canister, the shotgun-like buckshot for cannons.

Seeing the girl reminded Cari of something she’d forgotten about.

“Duh, Cari,” she muttered aloud. Cari called up her skill menu and activated her regeneration ability. It would take sixty seconds. She’d feel a lot better soon.

A minute later, Cari had regained sixty health points. Her bleeding had stopped and some of the minor wounds had closed by the time Percy returned with a whole armload of healing potions.

“Good grief, boy, how many do you have?”

“I could carry five without breaking them, ma’am. You looked way worse when I left.”

“Get with Miss Doolan and parcel them out to the worst injured among the crew. I’m feeling better now.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Marlin Dawkins, the bosun, called out orders to the crew. Aloft, the sails started to unfurl. The canvas expanded as the Vengeance caught the small breeze flowing through the harbor.

Katie followed her orders and turned the ship’s wheel to head them away from the dock and back out to sea.

Cari reached up and grabbed a rail, pulling herself back to her feet. She had a noticeable limp from one of the wounds that still ached in her thigh, but she could make it about.

Taking her time, Cari climbed up to the quarterdeck and assumed her position beside Katie at the helm.

Helen soon joined them, a bandage tied around her upper arm but otherwise unhurt.

“Here, ma’am, you dropped this.”

Helen handed Cari her dagger dropped during the fighting.

Slipping the blade back into its scabbard on her thigh, she smiled at the first mate.

“Thank you, Helen. I can always count on you to pick up after me.”

“What’s a first mate for, ma’am?” She asked with a chuckle.

“Indeed. Good work holding the end of the pier rather than remaining here on the ship.”

“I thought it best to keep them far enough away to avoid any mischief on their part, ma’am.” She peered out at the harbor mouth, fast approaching ahead. “Where to now?”

“We head for open water for now, then we’ll make our decision. I have a feeling we aren’t out of trouble yet. The Duke of Charon is too crafty to attack us like this without having another angle to his plan. Make sure the lookouts aloft keep their eyes open and have the guns loaded for action.”

“Aye, ma’am. We’ll be ready.”

Cari walked over to the storage locker by the stern and pulled out the spyglass before closing the lid and clamping it shut against the wind and the weather.

She put the extended glass to her eye as they cleared the harbor mouth and slipped into the open ocean. She saw the approaching sails even before the lookouts called out the warning.

“Sail ho, multiple ships to the port side.” The report called down matched with what Cari saw.

The Duke had indeed put together a trap as she anticipated, but he’d sprung the landward side of it a little early. The ships constituting part two of the plan were not yet in position.

Calling up her navigation and seamanship skills, Cari started examining the overlay of vector lines representing currents and air flow in her visual field. She made her decision.

Quest accepted — break through the fleet

“Keep us on a course due west, Katie.”

“Aye, ma’am. Due west.”

As the woman at the helm spun the wheel, Helen cleared her throat.

“Questions, Miss Doolan?”

Helen lowered her voice so only Cari could hear over the wind and waves. “Won’t the leading ships of that fleet cut us off before we get very far, Cari?”

“Yes, but only two of them. I’m hoping they don’t realize my plan and alter course to bring more of them to bear on us.

“Won’t two be enough?”

“Two’s better than ten, don’t you think?”

“Fair enough,” Helen said, a wry chuckle in her voice.

“As long as they don’t alter course and continue on a least time vector to catch us, we’ll have the angle to cut across their bows before they can turn to bring all their guns to bear. They’ll only manage to get a single broadside off each before we pass out of their range.”

The shots fired by a broadside down the bow or up the stern were the ones that did the most damage. Cari’s broadside cannonballs would tear down the length of the Duke’s ships, wreaking havoc and significant damage above and below decks if she planned it right.

“Heck, they might not even get off a single shot if I manage to knock out all their guns.”

“That’ll take a good bit of luck.”

Cari cast a glance at Helen. “And your point?”

“You’re right. Luck we have, at least so far. I’ll head down to the deck and have them load the guns with double shot. If we’re gonna get close enough, that will do the most damage.”

“Good idea. Go for it.”

Cari returned to watching the approaching ships. The fleet numbered ten in all and all of them remained on their original course aimed at the harbor itself. She realized they expected her to turn and run away from them up the coast.

That would be, of course, the worst plan ever since they had the advantage with the wind and the angle to cut them off within half a day, maybe only a few hours. They thought she’d opt to avoid all contact, though and had planned their attack accordingly.

The question remained. How long would it take the Duke’s naval commander to realize Cari wasn’t going to turn.

She made an adjustment to her navigational templates and put a new overlay over the sea. It now showed a shaded area ahead of them which indicated the area and time where the two leading ships would be in range to engage with the Vengeance while she fled to the west.

As the Vengeance continued on their course, Cari watched the shaded area grow narrower and narrower. Then it stopped and held its shape and size.

Cari brought the spyglass up again and realized the naval commander had made his adjustments. She smiled.

It was going to be too late. None of the other ships would be able to catch her. She just had to slip past the two ships farthest to the west.

“We’re locked in, Miss Doolan. We’ll have time for two broadsides to port and maybe a shot with our stern chaser as we pull away from them. Make sure everyone on the guns knows we’re gonna fire and immediately reload with double shot for the second ship.”

Helen called out orders, marching up and down the line of guns on the port side. Now that both Stefan and Rodrigo were gone, it fell to her to take command of the ship’s guns.

Cari returned to watching the approaching ships. All they could do now was wait while the gap closed between the ships.

———

“Fire!” Helen bellowed from the main deck.

The cannons on the port side belched flame and smoke as the double shot, twin cannon balls, flew out and slammed into the bow of the ship coming up on their left.

Cheers erupted as part of the ship’s bow caved in revealing the floor between two decks. Cari saw the cannon fire had ripped down the side of the two lower decks knocking over cannons and tearing into the massed crew waiting to fire their guns.

That ship wouldn’t be firing to port any time soon. Water also poured into the lower portion of the jagged hole, dragging the bow down and slowing the vessel.

Cari smiled. Her plan had worked even better than she’d expected. The other ship wouldn’t be able to return fire at all and they might sink altogether before any help arrived.

All the Vengeance had left was the western-most ship of the fleet. This one had a slightly better angle on them. No matter what Cari did or how good their broadside fire, this ship was going to be able to fire back at them.

They’d have to take their chances, though. Cari had committed them to this action.

Helen barked orders down on deck. “Reload and ready the guns to port again. Load single shot this time.”

Cari turned to the bosun standing nearby. “Mr. Dawkins please organize any spare members of the crew you have and send them below to report to the ship’s carpenter. In the coming fight, he may need help with repairs below decks.”

“Expecting us to take serious damage, ma’am?”

“I hope we don’t, but we’ll be in this ship’s sights a bit longer than the last one. They’re going to get their shots off unless we’re fortunate.”

“I’ll get right on it, then.”

The next ship came up fast on their port side. Cari estimated her crew would get off a single broadside before the other ship was able to turn and return fire. The angle wasn’t right for them to cross the bow this time, as they had with the other ship. This captain would be able to turn and match their course for a short time.

Once the two ships turned in tandem, they’d be on a nearly parallel course. That forced Cari and the Vengeance to fight this out ship to ship until she crippled the other vessel enough to break away and continue running.

She gauged the shaded area on the course overlay in her visual field. There was no way to avoid them entirely. They would be forced into a more prolonged action this time.

“Clear for action,” Cari called out. “Fire as you bear, Miss Doolan.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

A few long minutes passed before the enemy ship sailed into range. Helen Doolan stood by the first gun in the Vengeance’s broadside waiting for the other ship to enter her sights.

“Fire! Fire as you bear.”

The first cannon fired, jerking back against the ropes that kept the gun carriage from careening across the deck and killing someone.

In rapid succession, each of the other guns fired, the gun’s lead crewman waiting until the other ship passed into their sights.

As the smoke cleared, Cari scanned the other ship for damage. There were signs of some damage to their starboard rail and a few lines had been cut, causing a few of their sails to flap uselessly in the wind. It wasn’t enough to slow them though.

Helen urged the crews to load faster but they wouldn’t get another shot off before the other ship fired their guns.

The opposing captain was of a similar mind and turned the ship to bring the guns to bear. They were closer now and would likely do some damage to the Vengeance.

“Brace for incoming fire,” Cari called out. “Take cover.”

Despite the order, Cari stood tall by the ship’s wheel and watched the billowing smoke of the other vessel’s guns announce their shots just before the sound of the massed broadside reached her ears.

Crashes and screams from down on the deck told her more than a few of those shots struck home. She felt the Vengeance shudder under the blows of multiple hits.

Despite having two of their port guns knocked out, Helen kept the crews working and without waiting for Cari’s order shouted “Fire.”

Once again, the Vengeance shook, but this time it was the massed broadside of her own guns causing the vibration.

The ships had drawn even closer together by this time and her broadside struck to devastating effect, caving in a portion of the hull, allowing seawater to pour into the lower decks.

As soon as the water started filling the other ship, it listed at a fifteen-degree tilt to starboard. The gun crews on the other ship managed to fire off one more broadside before their guns tilted to point at the water.

Cari felt more of the cannonballs strike her ship.

Two things happened at once.

Shouts below announced they were taking in water.

At the same time, Katie at the helm shouted a curse. “Damn, I’ve lost control of the wheel. They’ve struck the rudder, ma’am.”

“Either that or a shot damaged the steering mechanism between here and there. Percy, come here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Get below and apprise the carpenter of our problem. If we’re taking on water, he needs to assess how bad it is quickly. His priority is to keep us from sinking but if we can manage to stay ahead of the leaks with the bilge pumps, then focus on getting us steerage back.”

“Aye, ma’am. I’ll tell him.”

The boy scampered down the steps and jumped down an open hatch to find the carpenter and his damage control crews on the lower decks.

Their adversary was listing ever farther to starboard now and sat very low in the water. Cari was sure they were going to sink unless they got assistance very soon.

The distance between them grew as the Vengeance pulled away, even without being able to steer the ship.

“Mr. Dawkins, try and angle the sails to bring us back on course until the carpenter fixes our rudder. Let’s try not to lose too much of our advantage.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari turned and tried to gauge the courses of the rest of the Duke’s fleet. They had started their turn to follow her, but the Vengeance still had the distance and angle to pull away.

She worked to come up with alternative course corrections depending on the time it took them to get the rudder fixed. It was while she pondered this problem that the lookout aloft called down more bad news.

“Sail ho, dead ahead. Four ships, triangular sail pattern.”

Cari’s head jerked up and she grabbed the spyglass and waited until the new ships cleared the horizon in their course to intercept her ship. They were definitely Sultanate ships.

She swore under her breath. The Duke’s ships knew they had her all along. The two fleets were working together. There was no other explanation. They knew she’d try and run west to Cairn island and raider territory again so they’d set the trap and waited for her.

“Katie, you’re not busy right now. Please go below and tell the carpenter we need that rudder back now.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

Cari turned and looked out west at the approaching ships. It didn’t matter whether they got the rudder fixed or not. There was no way they were getting out of the fight ahead of them. One fleet or the other was going to get a shot at them. The crew of the Vengeance was going to need every ounce of luck they had to get through the coming fight.

Chapter 37

An hour later, things had gone from bad to worse. They were able to repair the damage to the rudder, splicing a cable that ran from the ship’s wheel to the rudder mechanism to restore steering. That little bit of good news didn’t alter the stark tactical facts facing Cari and the Vengeance.

“Cari, they’re changing course again,” Helen said from beside her on the quarterdeck.

The sultanate ships had been arrayed in a line of four ships across the horizon. Once they saw the Vengeance coming their way, the outer ships changed course and headed towards the centermost ship directly ahead of their prey.

Now all four ships sailed in a straight line, one behind the other, arrayed like an arrow pointed directly at Cari’s ship.

“I was afraid they’d do this. I hoped they’d remain spread out to keep us from turning to either side. This proves they’re working with the Duke. They know what’s behind us. That’s the only way they could know we can’t turn and run the risk of the trailing ships catching us.”

“In a line like that, they’re gonna maul us. It’ll give every single one of them a full broadside shot at us as they pass.”

“Have a little faith, Helen. There’s always a chance we can make it by them.”

“All I’m saying is, even if they capture us and put us in chains, there’s always another day as long as they keep us alive.”

Cari shook her head. “They can’t afford to let any of us live. We have Jaycee with us. Most of the crew now know who she really is. They aren’t calling her Janey anymore. I’ve seen a few even bow when they pass her on the way to the ship’s mess.”

“So, they’ll kill all of us to keep her existence a secret once and for all.”

“Yep, and once she’s gone, there’s nothing to keep the duke from either putting Timron on the Crystal Throne as a puppet or taking the throne outright for himself. I’m not going to let that happen. Our only option is to fight our way past them. If we can minimize the damage, we might be able to keep running west and slip away once night falls.”

Helen forced a laugh despite the dire situation. “Ever the optimist.”

“When there’s no other choice, why not? Let’s get everyone something to eat. They’ll be in range in another hour. There's nothing else we can do until then. Cycle the crew below in shifts for a quick meal until everyone has a turn. The least I can do is let them fight on a full stomach.”

Helen headed down to the deck to pass along the orders and Cari returned to her usual place beside the helm.

“How’s she handling, Katie?”

“It’s a little stiff, ma’am. There’s more damage to the system than just that one cable, but the fix will hold well enough.”

“Good, keep us on course directly at them. Maybe we can scare them off. After all, they’re about to do battle with the Dread Raider Cari.”

That made Katie and the other members of the crew standing on the quarterdeck laugh.

Cari liked hearing them chuckling and chatting amongst themselves. She had a good crew. If anyone could fight their way through this, they could. Of course, they relied on her to do the impossible and she didn’t have any more tricks up her sleeve for this one, but they didn’t have to know that.

“Katie, go below and get some food with the rest of the quarterdeck crew. I’ll man the wheel with Percy here.”

“Thank you, ma’am. You have the helm.”

Katie and the others disappeared below leaving Cari holding the ship’s wheel staring ahead and testing every course correction or template she could think of using her navigation skill. Nothing changed the probable outcome of the pending fight.

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you, ma’am.”

Percy’s question interrupted her train of thought.

“What’s that, Percy?”

“That thing you do before you start breaking all the rules and sailing the ship in impossible ways.”

“I’m just thinking, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” the boy replied. He didn’t sound convinced.

How could she tell him she had nothing to save them this time? She decided instead to give him a task in the coming fight.

“Percy, I need to give you an order and it is one you must keep until your very last breath.”

“Anything, ma’am.” His chest puffed up with pride at her request.

“You know who little Jaycee is, right?”

“She’s the Crown Princess Jaycee and next in line for the Crystal Throne. The whole crew knows that.”

“I want you to make sure that no matter what else happens, to the ship, the rest of the crew, or to me, that you’ll keep her safe. I don’t care if you tie her to a hatch cover so she floats away from the ship as it sinks, keep her safe. Can you do that?”

“That means I’m kind of like one of the Empress’s Dragoons, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, I guess it does. Are you up to taking on that kind of responsibility? The Dragoons are the best of the best. The ones I’ve met are some of the toughest fighters I know.”

“I can do it, Cap’n. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Good. I knew I can count on you. Why don’t you go and check on her and make sure she gets some food, too?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Cari returned to reviewing the data in her heads-up display. She scrolled through the various currents, winds, and movement vectors, trying in vain to find a way out of their current predicament.

———

“Bring us about to starboard, Katie. Cross the bow of the second ship.”

The first Sultanate ship had traded two broadsides with the Vengeance on her way past. Between the two ships, the Sultanate vessel had taken the lion’s share of the damage. The lead ship now listed to starboard and its foremast was down.

They were out of this fight. Now to take on the next one.

After testing several ideas as she prepared for the coming battle, Cari opted for a novel tactic to try and maximize her opportunities to inflict damage on the enemy ships as they passed by her. It also served to spread out the damage to her ship rather than taking it all on one side.

The Sultanate ships sailed in a line spaced several hundred yards apart. There was just enough space between them to allow the Vengeance to turn and cross over the line to the other side after passing the first ship, zig-zagging between them.

This is what she did.

This allowed them to bring their relatively undamaged and fresh port broadside to bear. The starboard side was a chaotic mass of splintered wood and overturned cannons right now anyway.

Her move confused the other ship at first and the Sultanate captain ordered his helmsman to turn the ship, taking it out of the battle line.

Perfect.

“Fire!” Helen’s bellow was loud and clear despite the sling that now cradled her broken left arm.

The turning Sultanate ship had exposed her bow to the Vengeance’s broadside and Cari’s gun crews made them pay for the mistake. Cannonballs tore down the length of the ship, wreaking havoc both on the main deck and on the lower decks as well.

The foremast cracked and canted to one side. Though it didn’t fall completely, the loss of its sails would keep this ship out of the fight, too, once Cari passed them by.

First, she had to survive the remaining broadside guns of the other ship, whose crews were thirsty for revenge.

A loud boom sounded as they fired in unison when the Vengeance sailed directly beside them, headed towards their stern.

The effect was devastating. Bodies flew amidst splintered chunks of the ship’s hull as the cannon fire slammed home.

“Mr. Dawkins, get me a damage report from below as soon as you can. Katie, as soon as we pass their stern, bring us to Port and take us across the bow of the third in line.”

Both nodded and responded in unison with an “Aye, Cap’n.”

“Helen, get as many of the starboard guns back in place as you can. We’re going to try it again on number three.”

“I’ll do the best I can,” the first mate called out in reply.

Cari knew she would but she found herself wishing she had Rodrigo and Stefan manning the gun crews instead. Their good-natured rivalry seemed to buoy the spirits of their men and women to new heights.

She shook her head. They weren’t here and they had their own missions to worry about. She needed to keep her mind on the task at hand.

It looked like Helen would get three-quarters of the starboard broadside back up and ready to fire in time. It was more than she expected to see after the pounding they took.

Most of the crews on those guns were wounded and more than a few of the crews were working short-handed. They’d only get off one shot across the bow, then they’d get pounded again.

At this rate, she wouldn’t have any guns left at all by the time they reached the last ship in the line, if they made it that far at all.

It was going to be a total crapshoot. At this point, Cari had no inkling what the outcome would be. As long as they could keep the masts intact and the rudder repair held, they could keep going. Once they made it past the final Sultanate ship in the line, they were home free. No one would be able to turn and catch them.

There were a whole lot of “ifs” in her plan and each pass of another ship’s guns had a better chance of crippling the Vengeance beyond repair.

The ship tilted as Katie spun the wheel to bring them around across to the other side of the line. This captain was ready for Cari’s zig-zag plan and held his course, waiting for his chance to fire on her.

This time, both ships fired simultaneously in a thunderous combined blast that shook everyone to the core aboard both ships.

Something wet sprayed across Cari’s face and chest and she wiped her hand across her eyes to clear her vision. Her hand came away covered in blood.

Beside her, a headless Katie Beckett slumped to the deck in front of the wheel.

Ignoring the horror of what just happened, Cari grabbed the spokes of the wheel which had already started spinning as the ship lost control for a few seconds. She pulled the ship back into line to continue on course while she tried to assess if there was more damage.

Unfortunately, there was, more than she ever wanted to see.

The entire starboard side was blown open and exposed. Cari could see two of the lower decks through the jagged fifteen-foot-wide hole in the main deck and hull.

Bodies, downed lines and rigging, and splinters as big as her arm lay littered across the deck.

Up above, the top of the mainmast had snapped off two-thirds of the way up the shaft. Sails and cross spars hung precariously over the deck, threatening to break free at any moment and crush the desperate crew working to help their injured comrades below.

The Vengeance had slowed a little but still had enough headway to make the next turn and cross over the path of the fourth and final ship in the line.

She still had half of her port broadside intact. It would have to be enough to fight off the fourth ship as they slid by.

In her heart, if she allowed herself to dwell on it, Cari knew they weren’t going to make it, but she refused to give up or surrender.

Giving up meant that little girl hiding in the captain’s cabin down below would die at the hands of evil men who hated her only because of who her parents were.

Helen climbed up to the quarterdeck, which was harder than usual given her broken arm and the fact that both the starboard and port stairs had been blasted to bits by one of the cannon balls.

“Cari, we’re about done. I don’t think we have another one in us.”

“We have to. Get the people back on the port side guns. There are still half of them loaded and ready to fire.”

“What’s the point?”

Helen’s anguished plea broke Cari’s heart. She had to press forward, though.

“The point is it’s always darkest before the dawn. Get back down there and man those guns, Helen. If we don’t cripple this fourth ship, we don’t stand any chance at all. Giving up is not an option. Fight on.”

Helen stared at Cari, meeting her gaze for a few long seconds before she nodded and dug deep to find the strength to carry on.

“Good woman. Don’t worry, we’ll see this through, one way or the other, together.”

Chapter 38

Cari pulled the wheel around and started back to starboard, heading across the bow of the last Sultanate ship in the line. If they could somehow make it past this one, they still had a chance.

Helen had managed to pull together a small skeleton crew to man the final working cannons on the whole ship.

The half broadside would have to be enough to do the job.

Cari craned her neck to see past the helm at what was happening on deck.

“Let me take the wheel, Cap’n. You’ve got more important things to do.”

Cari looked to her right and saw Percy, a bloody bandage across his head, a cutlass shoved in his belt, and a grim smile on his face.

“You look like quite the little raider,” she told her cabin boy.

“I have to be. I work for the Dread Raider Cari. Let me take the wheel. I can do it.”

Cari gestured at the helm. “I leave the task to you, sir. Once we clear the bow of the other ship, turn hard to port and get us as close to them as you can.”

“I’ll get it done, Cap’n.”

“Good man.”

The two of them were alone on the quarterdeck now. Percy would have to be good enough. It wasn’t like she had anyone else to hand off the task to after Katie and the rest of the quarterdeck crew were killed.

Cari gave him a pat on the back and turned to watch their progress and the work taking place on the deck below to get the guns ready to fire.

Francesca came out from the hatchway in the center of the main deck. She looked around and saw Cari on the quarterdeck. The young woman ran over until she was close enough to be heard.

“The carpenter’s mate sent me.”

“Where’s the carpenter?” Cari feared she already knew the answer.

“He’s dead, ma’am. Killed in the last broadside. His mate sent me to tell you that last blast staved in the hull in two places. He’s managed to brace one enough to stop the flow of water but the other is a temporary patch that is leaking like a sieve. He doesn’t have the manpower left to do any better. We’re taking on water and he doesn’t think the remaining undamaged pumps will be enough to clear it.”

“Head back down and keep helping him as best you can. Tell him to keep at it. I know he won’t let this ship sink while he’s around to do anything about it.”

“Aye, ma’am, I’ll pass along the message.” Francesca started to turn away and then turned back to Cari. “Cap’n?”

“Yes, Francesca?”

“It’s been a wonderful ride serving with you, ma’am.”

“I’ve enjoyed having you along as well, Francesca.”

The other young woman nodded and ran back to the open hatch and climbed down to the lower decks.

Cari hoped they both lived to talk together again.

The deck shifted under her feet and the ship turned back to port, coming down the side of the last Sultanate ship.

“Here we go,” she heard Percy yell behind her.

She laughed in spite of the severity of the situation. It was as good a thing to say at any.

“Fire as you bear, Miss Doolan. God be with us!”

A few seconds later, Helen’s hoarse cry sounded. “Fire!”

The remaining guns of the Vengeance fired as one. The blast was followed by the full broadside of the enemy ship.

The whole ship shuddered under the pounding blows from the other ship’s cannonballs slamming into her. Cari felt rather than heard a massive crack and she looked forward to see the foremast collapse to the deck as a two-foot section of it was blasted out by a cannonball.

The ship listed to port as well, telling Cari they were taking on water on that side. She hoped the carpenter’s mate and his small remaining crew managed to stop the water from pouring in.

The Vengeance continued past the other ship but slowed and would soon be adrift with no working sails aloft.

“Percy, go get the princess from my cabin. We have to prepare to get her to safety.

“Aye, ma’am,” Percy said, groaning.

Cari turned and saw the boy was holding his hand against his side. Blood seeped around his fingers and stained his shirt.

She started to move towards him but he waved her off.

“I’m well enough, ma’am. I caught a bit of the splintered quarterdeck rail in that last broadside. I’m alright. I’ll fetch her and be back before you know it.”

Cari didn’t trust her voice. She just nodded in reply as he limped away.

As the cabin boy climbed carefully down from the quarterdeck on one side, Cari walked to the edge and jumped down to the main deck and started searching through the wreckage looking for survivors.

Helen picked her way through from the bow.

Neither of them found any survivors other than themselves by the time they met amidships.

“Any ideas, Helen? I’m open to suggestions.”

The question brought a smile to the first mate’s lips amidst the grime and blood from the ravaged ship and crew.

“The small boat mounted on the forecastle is still intact, though everything else around it is crushed to splinters, if you can believe that.”

“So, I guess we row from here.”

Helen shrugged. “You asked.”

Cari glanced at the sky. The sun was lower in the west than she expected.

“It’s getting on towards night. It’s gonna take those last two ships at least an hour to turn and come back to finish us. Maybe if we take the boat and row directly into the sun, it’ll hide us behind the Vengeance long enough for it to get dark. Then we can rig a small sail and try and get away in the night.”

“I love how you never say die, ma’am. I’ll go and get the boat ready to be lowered over the side. I think there’s enough loose wood and ripped sail canvas up there to put aboard so we can try to rig a sail.”

“Great, while you do that,” Cari said, “I’ll see if I can round up any more survivors below. Keep an eye out for Percy. He went to fetch the princess.”

Cari walked over to the hatch. Her heart sank when she saw water flowing by below. The ship’s lower decks had filled with water. A woman’s body floated by, the lifeless eyes looking up at her captain. Cari just stared until the body drifted out of sight.

Shaking herself, Cari called out into the rapidly filling void below.

“Abandon ship! If you can hear me, rally to the main deck. Abandon ship!”

A shout answered her, and a few seconds later Francesca walked through the waist-deep water pulling the carpenter’s mate behind her on a makeshift raft made from a broken cabin door. Another crewman walked behind supporting the other end.

“Have you seen anyone else?” Cari asked.

Francesca shook her head. “There isn’t anyone else. We’re it.”

Cari had difficulty believing her crew of nearly eighty souls were all dead or dying below decks. Shaking herself, she reached down into the hatchway.

“Here, bring him over here and I’ll help you pull him up.”

Francesca and the other crewman lifted the carpenter’s mate up until Cari was able to grab the man under his arms. Luckily, he was a small fellow. Cari leaned back and hauled him up onto the main deck.

Francesca and the other man, Cari thought his name was Tanner, climbed up in turn and lay staring up at the blue sky for a few seconds, catching their breath.

“Come on,” Cari said. “Bring him forward. Miss Doolan is readying a boat for us.”

“We’re gonna row away, ma’am?”

“No, Francesca, we’re gonna sneak off into the sunset. We’ll be gone by the time they manage to turn around and come back to search the ship.”

The other woman smiled. “I like it. It might just work.”

“Of course it will work. Now get this man up to the boat and get him situated. Help the First Mate get the boat ready. I’ll do one last search for survivors and be right behind you.”

Percy was just coming out of the main passageway to her cabin when Cari went to search for him. He led the young princess by the hand. She’d been crying and was shaking with fright.

“Good man, Percy. I knew you could do it. Come on, both of you. We are getting off this tub.”

“We are?” Percy seemed confused.

“Yes, we are. She’s done all she can for us. Hopefully, she’ll last a little longer and hide us while we escape, but she’s done her duty and brought us this far. Come on.”

Together the three of them headed to the forecastle. Helen had already lowered the boat over the side with Tanner and Francesca’s help. Tanner was down in the boat and helped lower the carpenter’s mate down to lay propped up in the boat’s bow.

Francesca climbed down next and then helped the princess down, followed by Helen who had trouble due to her broken arm. Percy followed and left Cari alone on the deck of her ravaged ship.

The Vengeance, her home for the last year on Fantasma, had served her and the crew well until this final fight. This time, though, it was just too much. They’d taken fire from six other ships. She crippled four of them and damaged the last two. There was no shame in going down after a fight like that.

Cari nodded a final goodbye to her ship and climbed over the side where she took her place between two of the three pairs of oars. Francesca and Tanner sat with the other two pairs since the three of them were the only people in the boat in any shape to row.

Helen sat at the tiller and steered them due west aiming directly into the setting sun. Hopefully, anyone looking their way would be blinded by the bright glow and not see the tiny boat bobbing between the sea and the light.

Cari pulled at the oars as hard as she could, setting the cadence for all three of them with a steady voice. Her back to the sun, she could see the last two Sultanate ships turning about and trimming their sails to come back to where the Vengeance drifted at the mercy of the current.

They’d rowed for nearly a half hour before Percy spotted the first of the new fleet of ships to the west.

“Ma’am, there are more ships coming up ahead of us. They’re flying the Duke’s colors.”

Cari craned her neck around to try and see what Percy was talking about. A desperate lump rose up in her throat as she saw the approaching vessels. There had to be four or more ships in the flotilla coming their way.

“The Duke certainly covered all his bases. He assumed we might slip past his double line and situated a third fleet to the west. I’d call it overkill for just us but what’s the point?”

Francesca raised her arm her finger extended behind them as the first Sultanate ship caught up to the Vengeance. They didn’t stop and grapple alongside as Cari had hoped they’d do.

It was apparent they’d spotted the small boat despite Cari’s hopes.

Here they sat, midway between both enemies and Cari for once was at a loss for what to do. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the bottom of the boat and the water sloshing around there.

Her dad had always told her there was no such thing as a hopeless situation. He’d raised her to know the legend of the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Captain Kirk cheated on the test because he refused to believe in failure. There was always a way out.

Cari snarled deep in her throat, angry she was going to die out here in the middle of the ocean and fail at her mission to save the little girl. She’d never get to grow up in this wonderful and fantastical place, denied the opportunity just like Cari.

Growling Cari lowered her oars back into the water and started rowing again, continuing west.

“Cari,” Helen said. “It’s over. You can stop now. You did your best.”

“No. This is the Kobayashi Maru. We can never give up. It’s a fake test.” Cari pulled harder on the oars. The other two soon joined their captain.

“Kobee-what?” Helen asked.

“Never mind, just keep us pointed west and pray. There’s got to be a way out. Some way, somehow, there’s got to be a way.”

Helen shook her head, not understanding but continuing to steer the longboat westward. Cari didn’t blame her. She didn’t understand either. She just refused to believe this was the end.

From either side, the two enemies closed on her tiny boat and still, Cari rowed on towards the setting sun.

The lead ship of the western flotilla turned ahead of them, blocking their path and still, Cari didn’t give a damn. She wouldn’t give up.

The crash of the ship’s cannons firing a broadside at them was the final blow that crushed Cari’s soul. She waited for the cannon balls to impact her tiny boat, to destroy all she’d strived to achieve here in Fantasma.

Instead, the projectiles whistled by overhead, missing her and the remainder of her crew. They smashed into the leading Sultanate ship coming up behind them. The cannonballs splintered multiple holes in the hull and took out the foremast as well. The mast and its triangular sails toppled into the sea.

Cari turned, her mouth open in shock and she saw the green and gold banner of the Duke of Charon get pulled down and a familiar red and black checkered flag run back up to fly at the top of the mizzenmast.

The other three raider ships turned as one and fired at the already crippled Sultanate ship and its companion. The lead ship almost crumpled under the blow as more massive holes blasted open in the hull. The one behind didn’t fare any better.

Cari sat there, her mouth still hanging open, and watched the two Sultanate ships sink before her eyes. Then it was too much for her and the tears flowed as a glowing alert appeared in front of her.

Quest completed — break through the fleet

18,000 experience

Chapter 39

Hal strode down the gangplank, Mona right behind him. He stepped onto the pier and looked around the town of Morton Creek.

In many ways it looked exactly the same as when he left here, fleeing the mage hunters with Theran the Bold many years before. The baron’s castle sat overlooking the harbor at the top of the hill on which the seaside town was built.

Stefan had told him the place had devolved into little more than a large fishing village with the harbor hardly used by any significant shipping anymore.

That expectation confused Hal as he scanned the other tall ships tied up at the other piers around them.

“I thought you said this place wasn’t very busy? It looks plenty busy to me.”

Stefan walked down the gangplank to stand beside the pair on the dock.

“I don’t understand it either. Something has changed and not for the better. Look over there. Those men at the food vendor’s stall are wearing the green and gold livery of the Duke of Charon. These must be his ships.”

“If they are, they’ve seen action recently,” Mona noticed. “Check out the recent hasty patches on the hull over there and the missing sections of rail or the wooden splints holding the mast together on that other one.”

“They weren’t here when I left,” Stefan explained.

“I don’t see Cari’s ship here either,” Hal exclaimed. He clenched his fists. “Damn, this means we missed her again, all because of the Duke and his infernal plans. I think I’m going to have to have a private conversation with his Grace when I return to the Crystal City.”

“Stop going down that path,” Mona said. “If you get all tied up on your self-righteous horse we’ll end up going off on some epic quest. We’re here to get Cari back and go home. That’s it.”

“Agreed,” Hal sighed. “Stefan, you mentioned Cari had friends in town. Perhaps they know something about where she might be?”

“It’s possible. I never met them, but she said he was a blacksmith who worked up by the castle. That shouldn’t be too hard to find. Let’s keep a low profile, though. We don’t want to get bogged down with any trouble dealing with the Duke’s men.”

Mona perked up at the mention of the blacksmith. “I could use the services of a good blacksmith. I’m running into some trouble with the crafting of the portal device to take us home. I think I need a stronger, more light-weight alloy than I’ve been able to find elsewhere.”

“We can ask him about that while we’re there,” Hal said. He turned to Stefan. “Lead on. We’ll be good.”

“What’s with the ‘we,’ dear? I’m not the one who loses his temper and kills people he thinks need killing.”

“Fine, I’ll be good. Let’s get going. Hopefully, this blacksmith friend knows something.”

The trio started into the town and turned left to head up the hill towards the castle above them. The street wound around and through a district of warehouses and then through a residential area.

Hal waited until yet another unit of the Duke’s guard marched past them and leaned towards the others.

“There sure are a ton of soldiers here for a small town like this. It’s more like they’re an occupying force who’ve conquered the place.”

“Let’s keep going,” Mona said. “We’ll learn what is going on soon enough.”

They kept going until they could see the landward battlements of the baron’s castle ahead. The numbers of the Duke’s guard had increased and it was clear they were using the castle as a base of some sort.

“Listen,” Mona said. “Hear that? That’s a hammer on an anvil. Come on.”

Mona took the lead and Hal soon heard the steady hammer blows as well. They followed the sound until it took them to a small building in front of a fenced in smithy with an open forge at the back.

Hal held the door while Mona and Stefan entered the smithy’s store.

A young woman with her dark brown hair pulled back in a french braid stood behind a counter. Behind the counter was a wall rack full of swords, knives, and other sharp implements of various sorts.

“May I help you?” The young woman asked.

“Maybe,” Hal said. “I wonder if it might be possible to talk to the smith. I think he might be an acquaintance of my daughter’s and my wife and I are hoping he can help us find her.”

“I’ll go and tell him you’re here. Can I have your name?”

“Hal, Hal Dix. This is my wife, Mona, and the young man over there is Stefan.”

At the mention of his name, all the blood rushed from the girl’s face and she went deathly pale. She gathered her wits about her before Hal could ask her what was going on, she held up a finger for them to wait and ran out the rear door of the shop. Hal presumed it led into the smithy’s courtyard.

Mona nodded to the rear door. “She knows who we are based on her reaction. That means she’s probably met Cari. I think we’re in the right place.”

“I hope so,” Hal replied. He picked up a sword from the rack behind the counter. “This is good work. It’s lighter than I’d expect for a blade this size.”

“Let me see,” Mona said. She took the blade and examined it, then pulled a small jeweler’s loop from her utility belt and peered through it at the flat of the blade then turning it to look at the edge, too.”

“Cari’s been here. I’m sure of it,” she said, setting the blade back on the counter.

“How can you be so sure?” Hal asked.

“There’s no way this blade and the alloy it’s crafted from is the work of a local smith. I have yet to see a blade or anything else made of it anywhere. Plus, the edge geometry shows a sophisticated double grind. Unless I miss my guess, Cari has developed some decent crafting skills while she’s been out galavanting around Fantasma.”

The rear door swung open and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped through the door. He looked from Hal to Mona and back again and his shoulders sagged and he shook his head.

“Hello,” Hal said. “I’m—”

“I know who you both are. I had hoped Maisy was exaggerating or had misheard your names. It’s easy to see who you are, though. Your daughter resembled both of you.”

“Wait,” Mona said. “What do you mean by ‘resembled?’ You act like she’s dead or something.”

“Perhaps we should come over here and sit down.” He gestured to the corner where a round table and four chairs sat.

“I don’t need to sit,” Mona said, her voice taking on a monotone and sounding cold as ice. Her hand dropped to her utility belt. “Tell us who you are and where Cari is.”

“I’m Heath, Heath Fletcher. Cari was my friend and, in some ways, a sort of comrade in crafting.” He blinked and turned from Mona to Hal. “I can’t believe you two are really here. She talked about her parents a lot, but it was only recently that we knew who she really was and to whom she referred when she mentioned you two.”

“You’re not answering my wife’s question, Heath. Where is Cari?”

An anguished look crossed his face and tears filled the smith’s eyes, threatening to brim over and flow down his cheeks. Eventually, he failed holding them back.

“She’s gone, killed at sea in a great battle with the ships of the Duke of Charon.”

“Dead?” Mona managed to croak out through a throat tightening with grief. “I don’t believe it. We’d have known something like that, wouldn’t we, Hal?”

“What happened?” Hal asked. “What have you heard?”

“It’s all over town. The Duke’s ships came into the harbor a few days ago, two days after the soldiers took over the town. Cari was forced to flee in the Vengeance. When the ships came back, they were all badly damaged and I got the impression more than a few of their fleet had been sunk during a recent sea battle. The Baron’s guard captain is a customer of mine and he came in the shop after the ships returned.”

Heath shook his head and stopped talking. He looked at the floor in front of his chair, unable to continue.

“Out with it,” Hal said. “What did he tell you?”

“The Duke’s fleet was waiting off the coast for Cari to flee in her ship. They pursued her and managed to sink her ship in a running battle. They were attacked at the end of the fight by a fleet of swift Raider ships and had to flee the area. They all told the guard captain there was little doubt they’d succeeded in killing the girl. Many claimed to watch The Vengeance sink. It was lost with all hands.”

Heath looked up at Hal. “I’m sorry, Prince Hal. I am a father, too. I can only imagine what I’d do if one of my children was taken from me like that.”

Hal, his heart heavy as grief rolled over him, tried to think of some way this young smith could be wrong. There had to be a way for him to find out if she’d somehow survived the fight despite her ship being sunk in the battle.

Then it came to him. He opened up his personal stats menu and selected quests from the options there. It brought up a new menu.

Quests:

—Active quests

—Completed quests

—Failed quests

Mentally clicking on the active quests item, his heart skipped a beat as the menu option opened.

Active quests:

—Locate Cari and take her home

Mona sat next to him, staring at the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks. Hal reached out and took her hand.

“Don’t cry, honey. She’s still alive.”

“How do you know?”

“Check your quests menu. The quest to find her and take her home is still active. If she’d died out there in the sea somewhere, we would have both gotten a failed quest notification. The fact that we didn’t means she’s still out there. Somehow, against all the odds, she survived. Cari’s alive.”

Epilogue

Cari listened to the children playing in the courtyard behind her and smiled. Turning, she watched as the two little girls sat and giggled at each other while they played with the porcelain dolls, dressing them up in a variety of outfits from a small wooden chest on the bench next to them.

“Young Jaycee’s adjusting to being here well, it seems, don’t you think, Cari?”

Cari nodded and turned to greet Crandall Wheldon, leader of the raider Council of Captains.

“She and your granddaughter have become close friends in the last few weeks. I almost hate to take her away from all this. She deserves to be happy after all she’s been through.”

“There’s no reason either of you has to leave, Cari. You are welcome to remain here. We can protect you. You’ll both be safe with us. Besides, according to the last ship in to Cairn Island from the mainland, you’re all dead, lost at sea during a great sea battle. No one knows you’re here.”

“That’s good enough for the short term, Crandall, but it doesn’t stop the Duke of Charon from completing his task of taking over the Empire for himself either as a puppet master pulling the strings on Timron, or even as Emperor himself. Once that happens, he’ll come for you, for all the raiders. He can’t let you all live when you know everything he did to take the throne away from its rightful heirs.”

“We’ve survived here in isolation for a long time, my dear. We’ll not let the Duke or anyone else bend us to their will ever again.”

“I hope you’re right. You all have become my friends and I’d hate to see anything happen to you or this place.”

“I hear a but coming.”

“But, I’ve met Prince Timron and the Duke. I can’t let either of them take control of the Empire. Not as long as I possess the means to stop them. Plus, Jaycee is the rightful heir. It’s her throne and, like it or not, I find myself in the position to be a protector and champion for the heirs of this land.”

Crandall laughed. “Judging from the sour look on your face, it’s something you don’t like.”

“Let’s just say I never wanted to take on the family business. Prince Hal was the hero of this land, not me. I don’t want the job, but it’s been thrust on me. I’ll not shrink from doing what is right.”

“Spoken like a true champion.”

“Yeah, one who stumbled on the job by accident. If you only knew how I ended up here.”

“Someday you’ll have to tell me. So how long do you intend to stay?”

“I’m waiting for word from my friends on the mainland. I’ve got a few feelers out to leave messages for them here and there. They’ll get back to me once they realize I’m alive and well. After that, we’ll see. There’s nothing forcing my hand as long as no one knows we’re here.”

Crandall grinned at Cari. “Excellent, then. You’ll be staying put here for the time being until the opportunity comes along for you to produce the young princess.”

“I guess so,” Cari replied.

Squeals of delight from the courtyard interrupted them and both captains turned back to watch the children. A servant had brought in a crate. Both little girls reached inside, each pulling out a small yellow puppy. They cuddled them to their chests, laughing as the puppies nuzzled and licked their faces.

“She’s safe with me by her side,” Cari said, to herself as much as to the raider captain. “I’ll be her champion.”

Want to read more about Cari’s adventures? Get ready for Accidental Dragoon.

Read on for a preview chapter of the next exciting book in the Accidental Champion series.

Preview Chapter 1 - Accidental Dragoon

Captain Cari Dix stood over the long dining table in Captain Crandall Wheldon’s estate, looking at the expanse of charts spread out across it. She stabbed a finger down on a small town west along the coast from Tandon. “Can’t we land here?”

Crandall shook his head. “No. The Duke’s forces are spreading out across the western reaches of the Empire. The imperial naval forces under his control are blockading each of the ports as they reach them and he has situated land forces along most of the approaches to Tandon.”

“Well, we’ve got to find some place to land. We can’t stay here forever.”

Cari’s eyes scanned the map in front of her and then looked at the other charts showing different portions of the western coastline of the Empire Fantasma. There had to be somewhere she could get ashore safely and begin transporting Crown Princess Jaycee to her great-grandmother, the Empress.

“What if we tried to force our way through and get into Tandon’s harbor before any naval ships were able to catch us?” Helen Doolan, Cari’s first mate, said.

“That’s not something I’d want to try,” Crandall said. “There are more naval ships out there now than you want to run past. Even in my fast schooner, they’d be able to corner us at some point, and we won’t be able to fight our way free. That boat is equipped to run fast, not fight a pitched battle at sea.”

Cari stood looking down at the map, her hands on her hips, and shook her head. “We can’t stay here. We can’t get to the mainland.” Cari ground her teeth in frustration. “Is there any way we can avoid the vote in the Council of Captains tomorrow, Crandall?”

The old Raider captain shook his head. “I have some sway with the majority of the captains in port, but even that isn’t enough to get past their need to trade goods somewhere. You made it so we didn’t have to be pirates anymore. Most of the captains appreciate that, but that means we have to be able to become merchants again. That’s hard to do when all the nearest ports are sealed against you.”

“It’s like they know you and the princess are still alive, Cari,” Helen said.

“Yes,” Cari agreed. “And that means someone here on Cairn Island got word to the Duke about not only me but also the princess.”

“Unfortunately, I agree,” Crandall said. “All the more reason to get you ashore on the mainland as quickly as possible. Once the naval commanders under the Duke of Charon’s control think they’ve got enough ships to come here in force and challenge us in our own waters, they are going to come looking for you. It’s one of the reasons the council wants to vote to have you expelled. I think I have wrangled enough votes to allow you all to stay here with me for now but there will be another call for a vote next month, and the next, until they succeed. As long as this economic pressure is on us, one or more of the friendly captains are going to flip sides. Eventually, we will lose the vote. It’s inevitable, I fear.”

Cari leaned over the table and traced her finger along the coastline once again. “Morton Creek is out. They’re letting ships in and out but searching them as they arrive. That also appears to be where the Duke’s pet admiral has set up his headquarters. We could put in at one of the small fishing villages along the coast between Morton Creek and Tandon.”

“Most of those were raided by Sultanate slavers, remember?” Helen pointed out. “Even if we landed there, we wouldn’t get much in the way of supplies or support. By the reports I’ve heard, only a few have managed to rebuild again. Most are still charred ghost towns.”

Cari continued, bypassing Tandon on the map. The strongest blockade force was rumored to be headed in that direction. “Our only option is to head northwest and hope one of the other free cities farther north along the coast is able to get us the support we need once we land. We must break through to Tandon and coordinate with the Duke there to help us reach the Crystal City and Empress Kareena.”

“The Duke of Charon has almost taken control of the entire Empire at this point. Only the western cities remain,” Crandall said. “It’s not going to be easy to make it through to the capital no matter where you land. Once the old Empress dies, the Duke of Charon is ready to put that puppet, Prince Timron, on the throne as fast as he can.”

“Yes, but, Timron is in hiding right now,” Cari observed. “He won’t come out until he knows it’s safe for him to travel to the Crystal City. He’ll only do that once his grandmother passes away. That gives us time to get Jaycee there first. If we can keep her safe, even the Duke of Charon would have to let her succeed her great-grandmother when the time comes’.”

“He’ll push to become the regent, you know,” Crandall observed.

“It’ll be difficult for him to do that spitted on the end of my sword,” Cari snarled. “He’s got a lot of good people’s lives to pay for. I intend to settle accounts with him once I get the chance. He won’t be able to avoid a public challenge to his honor and then I’ll finish him in a duel once and for all.”

The discussion was interrupted by Francesca, one of the few surviving members of Cari’s crew. “Excuse me, Captain. I think you should come see this. There’s something going on outside.”

“What is it, Francesca.?”

“It’s some sort of disturbance. It sounds like there’s a mob forming outside of Captain Wheldon’s estate gates.”

Captain Wheldon looked up in alarm. “A mob? I’ll see to this right now. No one challenges me in my home like that.”

“Crandall,” Cari said. “You have to be careful. If something is going on out there, they might not listen to you.”

“I’ll not let these scurvy dogs run you off the island like this. The council of captains hasn’t voted yet and I’m not going to stand by and let the mob rule. If they want things to change they have to wait for the council to vote.”

Cari, Crandall, and Helen followed Francesca out to the second-floor balcony looking down over the stone wall surrounding the Captain’s estate. There seemed to be an angry group of people shouting and pointing at the house through the gate.

Cari pointed at the crowd. “Look. That’s Day Ivarson. It figures he’d be in the middle of this.”

“I’ll have his head on a stick,” Crandall said. “He’s a captain on the council and knows better than to stir up the common folk like this.”

“It seems he’s forgotten,” Cari said.

“I’m going down there. You all stay here. I’ll get them to disperse. “

Crandall left them standing on the balcony as he headed for the stairs. Cari looked past the other side of the gate and saw more people coming up from the port down below. “I don’t like this, Helen. Look, there are more people gathering. Eventually, this mob is going to get out of control. We need to make plans to get out of here.”

“Where do we go?” Helen asked.

“I’m not sure. I do know one thing. We can’t stay here anymore. Francesca, go get Percy and make sure he’s got his things together, then go round up the princess. I’m going back to my room to gather my weapons. I suggest you all do the same. I don’t think we’re going to make it to the harbor without a fight.“

The three of them split up, heading in different directions inside the large manor house. Cari reached her rooms and grabbed her sword baldric settling it diagonally across her chest so that her sword hung at her right side. She strapped on her belt, buckling the bottom of dagger’s sheath where it hung down next to her thigh.

She lamented once again losing her precious bag of holding when her ship, the Vengeance, sank before she could be rescued by the Raiders. Cari shook her head. There was no sense in worrying about something she couldn’t do anything about. Looking around the room one last time for anything that might be useful, she wheeled about and headed out the door.

Cari reached the main hall downstairs just as Helen arrived with the princess, her cabin boy, Percy, and Francesca. Everyone was armed except for the princess. After all, what kind of weapon did you give to a six-year-old?

“All right,” Cari said. “We’re going to head out back to the stable yard. Hopefully, the rear gate isn’t being watched by anyone from that mob out front. We’ll see if we can hitch a horse to one of the small carts and load ourselves up in that. Then we can get out of here. Perhaps if we head inland on one of the island roads, we can circle around and come at the harbor from a different direction.”

“What are we going to do when we get to the harbor?” Helen asked. “It’s not like we have a ship anymore.”

“We’ll deal with that when we get there. We still have a few friends in town.”

Quest accepted — Escape to the Harbor

The small group headed out the back of the main house into the courtyard. They walked towards the stables. There weren’t any servants around, which Cari thought was strange. She wondered if they were hiding or had run off after seeing an angry mob gathered outside their master’s residence.

She worried about not leaving a letter of some sort for Crandall. She figured he’d probably understand in the long run. Besides, any notes you left could be found. If people from the mob got inside the gates, they’d surely search the home. She didn’t want any of them figuring out what she might be planning.

Percy raced ahead into the stable and led a horse into the center of the paddock where a small, two-wheeled cart was sitting. He started hitching up the horse to the traces. Francesca immediately went over to lend a hand.

Once they had the cart hitched, Cari picked up Jaycee and set her in the back of the wagon. Francesca and Percy climbed in back with the girl. They sat down with their legs dangling over the end of the small open wagon-bed. Helen climbed up to the short bench at the front of the cart. Cari joined her, picking up the reins. She made a clucking sound and slapped the reins down on the horse’s back. The horse started forward, pulling the cart behind with a lurch.

The rear gate to the estate was open and no one was outside when they reached it so Cari snapped the rains down a little harder on the horse’s back. The horse sped up to a trot, heading down the dirt road leading from the rear of the estate into the thick jungle of the tropical island on which they’d been staying.

In the background as they left, Cari heard angry shouts and then sound of a couple of gunshots. She hoped Crandall was alright. There was no going back at this point, though. Her primary responsibility was getting Jaycee to safety. They’d made it out just in time.

Get ready to read Accidental Dragoon, coming in September, 2018.

Also by Jamie Davis

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The Accidental Traveler LitRPG Series

(with C.J. Davis)

The Accidental Thief

Accidental Warrior

The Accidental Mage

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Accidental Champion Series

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Accidental Duelist

Accidental Raider

Accidental Dragoon

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Book 3 - The Paramedic’s Choice

Book 4 - The Paramedic’s Hunter

Book 5 - The Paramedic’s Witch

Book 6 - The Paramedic’s Nemesis

Book 7 - The Paramedic’s Doom

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The Nightingale’s Angel

Blue and Gray Angel

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The Charm Runner

Prophecy’s Child

The Queen of Avalon

Stolen Destiny

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Jamie Davis, RN, NRP, B.A., A.S., host of the MedicCast Podcast and Nursing Show (NursingShow.com) is a nationally recognized medical and nursing educator who began educating new emergency responders as a training officer for his local EMS program. His programs and resources have been downloaded over 6 million times by listeners and viewers.

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Table of Contents

- Title Page
- Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Epilogue
- Preview Chapter 1 - Accidental Dragoon
- Also by Jamie Davis
- Leave a Review
- About the Author