Chapter 5 Kaspar #3
I rushed over to the rail so I could get a better look, and my mouth fell open in shock, awe, and maybe a little terror.
The jollies slowly moved apart, and I realized what Moonie had handed Maneater—a net. They each had an end, tying them to their jolly boats, and as they spread apart, the net grew bigger and bigger.
Moonie and Maneater moved together with practiced ease, losing altitude as they made their way closer to the trade ship.
I was confused why they were going so low until shots were fired from the merchants. Our ship was too far away and the jolly boats were too low for them to hit.
A sudden gust of wind made me suck in a breath as the two jolly boats were pushed quickly up in the air, and in almost a blink of the eye, they had the net wrapped around the trade ship’s bow.
The men on board were panicking now as they realized the Wraith’s net and jolly boats were slowing them down. Slowing them down enough for our ship to close the distance with ease.
Apparently, those jolly boats had a lot more power than I’d realized. Although, if I concentrated on my magic, I could sense how much energy was in the fluxstones. Between their propellers and our windweaver, the trade ship had no chance of escape.
The merchants shot their guns at our two pirates, but they were both using the trade ship itself as cover. They had their jolly boats tucked in tight under the hull, holding the net and keeping their pirates safe.
Cannonballs were shot at our ship, but Ariella used the wind to force them to go wide. With another gust of wind, she brought us right up to the port side of the trade ship, so we were way too close for them to use their cannons without risking their own ship.
Plus, they had more concerning things to worry about because the pirates were throwing ropes, ladders, hooks, and planks, using them to infiltrate the trade ship.
The merchants started shooting their guns at us, but nothing seemed to hit our ship, so I assumed Ariella was using the wind to make them whizz right past us.
Hopefully they ran out of bullets quickly.
Guns weren’t as common as swords, and they held few bullets, but I knew how deadly they were.
I could only pray that these merchants didn’t have many of them.
I watched in shocked silence as Butcher rushed across a plank, dropped to the trade ship’s deck, and fought a merchant with a sword.
The merchant pulled a gun, but before he could even get a shot off, Butcher easily knocked it out of his hands.
The merchant looked terrified as he refocused on using his sword, only for Butcher to use his brute strength to knock his sword out of his hand in only three hits and stab the guy straight through the stomach.
My own stomach twitched in response, and when blood splattered across the deck, bile rose in my throat.
My eyes skated across the other ship, one horror worse than the next.
Puffy chopped a man’s arm off in one sweep—the arm holding a gun—and he cheered and laughed as the man screamed in agony and fell to the floor, blood pouring out of him far too quickly. He definitely wasn’t going to survive that.
When another merchant attacked Puffy with a sword, he fought back, still laughing like he was having the time of his life, before he sliced the guy’s neck, nearly taking his entire head off.
“Oh, phoenix tails,” I whispered to myself, my hand coming up to cover my mouth and stop me from puking.
Two-Toed Roch jumped from the railing onto some man’s back, brought down her dagger, and stabbed the guy in the head.
So many of them were just… killing the aeronauts. They weren’t even trying to capture them or incapacitate them. They were murdering them.
I scanned the area again and blew out a breath when I saw Reaper knock someone out and push them off to the side before he chastised Puffy. I couldn’t hear what he said, but from the look on Puffy’s face, he’d gotten in trouble, and he was pissed.
Hawk-Eyes knocked a guy in the temple with the butt of her knife, and I watched the guy crumble to the ground before she pushed him out of the way with her foot and jumped into the fray again.
The more I watched, the more I realized that most of the pirates were actually… not murdering people unnecessarily. Like… murder was happening if it couldn’t be helped, and everything was wild at the moment, but there were a lot of pirates knocking people out and tying them up.
But then there were people like Butcher who were slicing off body parts and making people bleed out… like he was doing right now. I cringed as he used an axe to hack at some poor guy’s arm and chest.
“Holy dragon balls,” I murmured, bile growing again when I realized the guy was already dead, and Butcher was just… mutilating his body.
Before I could actually puke, someone hit me hard on the upper back, and I stumbled against the railing.
With wide eyes, I turned to find Viper scowling at me.
I jerked back because of all the pirates on this ship, he was the only one who actually terrified me.
I was cautious around the others, but the captain… he was scary as hellfire.
“Go! Before I throw you overboard.”
My eyes widened in horror. Go? Go where? To the other ship?
He… he didn’t expect me to fight these poor people, did he? Reaper told me to stay here, so I didn’t think… I didn’t think I’d have to be involved.
Viper’s eyes narrowed. “Everyone joins in on raids, boy. Even whelps like you. You help, or you die, your choice.” He gave me another push, turning me toward a plank that connected our ship to the other. “Get the hell out of my sight.”
He jumped up onto the railing with more grace than I expected, grabbed hold of a rope, and quickly pushed off, swinging to the other ship. He was immediately surrounded by three men with swords, but the captain took them on with a yell and a… a laugh.
Good goddesses, he was having fun? He was as bad as Butcher. Blech.
“You better hop to it. If he sees you over here, you’re kraken bait,” Willy—the youngest and nicest of all the pirates—said before he ran across a plank and joined in.
With a fortifying breath, I followed him across, keeping my fingers crossed that I didn’t misstep and fall the very, very, very long way down to the sea and my death.
Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down.
As I pulled my sword out, I jumped onto the other ship’s deck, hoping that no one would notice me and I could just pretend to be helping.
But that ship sailed only a moment later when a merchant attacked me with his own sword. I saw the blow coming from a mile away and parried with ease, hopping out of the way, falling back on my training and letting muscle memory take over.
He came at me again, but I smacked his sword with my own hard enough his arm flew to the side. The man’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing and attacking me again. I parried that swing just as easily, then decided I didn’t want to be here all day and attacked him instead.
I swung my sword in an arch, but the guy blocked me. That was okay. I wanted to see a few of his moves so I could find a way through his block.
We parried a few more times before I finally saw my opening and slashed across his chest. With a wince of sympathy as he cried out—I’d never drawn blood like that before—I used his distraction to knock his sword arm to the side, step close, and hit the guy in the temple with my sword’s hilt.
He fell to the ground in a heap, and I took a deep breath, not even realizing until that moment how heavily I was breathing.
I didn’t have time to catch my breath.
Another merchant attacked me, and I blocked his blow with my sword. I really wished I’d grabbed some arm bracers or something so I’d have something else to block with, but there was nothing I could do about that right now.
If I made it through this, I was definitely going hunting for some.
I swung, and he blocked and stabbed his sword at me again. I met his swing with one of my own, and our swords hit so hard, I felt it reverberate up my arm, and we both took a step back.
“Damn, Ghost, look at you,” Hawk-Eyes said as she fought another merchant beside me. “Who knew you were good with a sword?”
I’d been on this pirate ship for nearly two weeks now, and not a single person had asked me what I did for work in Sunada. If they had, they would’ve known that I was pretty damn good with a sword.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I parried my opponent’s latest swing. To Hawk-Eyes, I panted out, “I was a blacksmith’s apprentice.”
My breathing became labored as I fought with everything I had.
This wasn’t like practicing with my master.
This man wanted to cause harm, perhaps even kill me.
This was fighting for my life, and I was never more grateful than I was right now for all of the lessons Master Silas Redman had taught me.
He’d been a renowned soldier in the Sunada Imperial Fleet until he’d lost his leg twenty-five years ago.
Then he’d taken on the trade passed down from his father, and he’d been teaching me everything he knew.
From blacksmithing to fighting and everything in between.
A jolt of sadness rushed through me. I’d never see Master Redman again.
A sword came flying close to my face, and I shook myself out of the memory before my stupid brain ended up getting me killed. While I was still distracted, my attacker got a good swipe in on my left bicep, making me hiss in pain as blood soaked my shirt. Well, crap.
As quickly as I could, I went on the attack, and the surprise on my opponent’s face would’ve been hysterical in any other instance. A smirk formed on my lips a moment before I faked right, swung left, stepped in close, and knocked the guy’s sword hand with the hilt of my sword.
He hissed out in pain, his grip loosening on the handle, and I took advantage. I lifted my sword and swung down hard against his. It didn’t make him drop it, but I pulled the dagger out with my free hand and smacked the guy’s wrist with the butt of the knife.
That finally had him dropping his weapon, and I pointed my sword right against his throat.
The man froze, staring with wide, fearful eyes, and I shot him a smirk before bringing the dagger’s handle up and smacking him in the temple. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground.
Holy phoenix tails. I knocked out two people.
I’d never knocked anyone out in my life.
Good thing I’d been watching Reaper do it so I knew how.
I didn’t have time to celebrate—I mean, was this celebration material? I’d hurt someone. Two someones.
Before I could think on that, another aeronaut was right there, taking the guy’s place.
“Why in the holy goblin claws are there so many of them?” I muttered to myself.
Dammit! This ship was even bigger than The Black Wraith, so of course there were more aeronauts on it. We were going to be at this for a long time.
The thought made my stomach churn, but I ignored it and focused on the guy trying to kill me.
We parried, but this guy wasn’t very good with a sword, so I took him down in only a few moves.
As he fell to the ground, my eyes scanned the deck for incoming threats, and my heart stopped when they landed on Reaper.
He was surrounded by five men, all with swords aimed right at him, and there wasn’t a soul in sight from our ship. No one was close enough to help him, and I cringed as he started fighting all five of them.
I didn’t care how good a fighter he was. One against five was terrible odds, and I really didn’t think he stood a chance.
He was on their quarterdeck, and I was on the main deck, starboard side. But I could see the stairs pretty close to me. If I could make it there, maybe I could help him.
Glancing around, I saw an opening that would lead me right to the stairs and up to the man. I’d have to be quick. Climbing the ladder would make me vulnerable, but… but I had to help, right?
No one else looked like they were ready to step in and help him.
But I could. I could help Reaper.
But… should I? Was a man even other pirates were terrified of really worth it?
With a sigh, I took a chance and ran for the steps. “Dragon balls, this is gonna suck.”