Chapter 9 Kaspar
Kaspar
Leaning over the railing, I squinted, trying to see through the clouds. The excitement building within the crew was different than it’d been when they were getting ready to raid that merchant ship. This excitement was… eager and fun, with less tension and without the underlying violence in the air.
I liked it.
It made me excited to see this Duskwater Harbor place. I’d heard rumors about it in the past, that it was a lawless island filled with danger. But I’d been on a pirate ship for weeks, at risk of violence at any moment, so I wasn’t too worried about the danger part.
Okay, I was worried about it, but I was trying to push those fears down and focus on the exciting aspect.
I’d never been anywhere in the world except the kingdom I was born in.
I’d never traveled outside of Sunada before I stowed away on The Black Wraith.
In fact, I’d only traveled outside of Embergate City’s walls a couple of times to some of the smaller towns for trade, and I hadn’t even gone that far from the capital.
There was much of my own kingdom I’d never even seen.
Yeah, we’d been flying for the past several weeks, but staring down at the open sea had gotten old fast. This was the first time I’d get to see a new city, and I couldn’t wait.
Plus… it might give me the chance to get away from Viper.
Since I’d found out about stopping at Duskwater, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the chance I needed to get away from the evil captain.
I didn’t feel safe here, even if I liked a lot of the crew, even if I really, really liked Reaper.
I just… I wasn’t sure this ship was the safest place for me, and I wanted—needed—to make it to Asteris so I could help Kayla and Cody.
This might be my only chance, but I didn’t know what to do.
Should I stay and take a chance with the scariest pirate captain of all time?
Or should I try joining another crew and risk being on some other ship with another captain?
One who might be just as bad as Viper? Would that be better or worse?
My stomach was in knots thinking about it, so I pushed it and all my maybe-plans aside to concentrate on this once in a lifetime moment.
Glancing at the water, I cringed as a huge sea serpent surfaced and dove back under. We were lower in the air now than we’d been for most of the trip, so it was easy to see it. I inhaled when I realized there was a whole school of them, jumping, swimming, and playing in the water under our airship.
It was like they were waiting for one of us to fall off.
From here, it was difficult to pick out details, but sea serpents were so big they were easy enough to spot.
They were a deep blue color, and some had gray spots, but all of them had long, snake-like bodies with fins, spikes down their backs, and large crests on their heads.
From here, I couldn’t see their mouths, but I knew they had many, many sharp teeth that were as long as my forearm.
They were hunters, meat-eaters, and they ruled these waters. We were deep within sea serpent territory, and I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of being monster bait.
With one bite, I’d be a goner for sure.
I shuddered at the thought.
I’d really been hoping to see some dragons flying in the sky on this trip, but no such luck. Instead, I got to see terrifying sea beasts that were only close to us because they were hoping someone would fall overboard and become their next meal.
Willy pointed and shot me a grin. “I see it.”
At first, I thought he meant the sea serpents that seemed to be following our trail, but then I realized he was pointing off into the distance.
I leaned closer to him, trying to see what he saw, and then I gasped. In the distance, there was a dark blur surrounded by water. Since the blur wasn’t moving like a sea creature would, I knew it had to be the island.
I bounced on my toes. “Unicorn horns, I see it too.”
“We’re still thirty minutes out, I’d guess.”
Before he could speak again, Viper’s voice called out, yelling at the aeronauts to shift the rudders and start descending for landing. Ariella worked her magic, standing on the quarterdeck next to the helm and making the wind move our ship quickly through the air.
Willy tensed beside me and slouched his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible so Viper couldn’t see him.
Since I didn’t want the captain to notice my young friend either, I stepped in front of him.
I tried my best to block him from sight, hiding the sneer I wanted to aim at the evil pirate.
After what he’d done to Willy, ordering a flogging and letting Butcher hurt him until he passed out from the pain, I’d lost every single ounce of respect I’d had for the man. And I hadn’t had much before that.
I saw how Viper ran this ship—with fear.
I saw how all the other pirates steered clear of the man and did their best to disappear anytime he came out of his office.
I saw that no one actually respected him.
They were just too scared of being thrown overboard, hit, or flogged to do anything about it.
I’d even heard a rumor that Viper would cut off a few fingers or toes if he was in a bloody mood and you got in his way.
I hated the man, and I wanted to protect Willy from him.
Especially because the poor kid was still recovering from his injuries.
Luckily, Viper didn’t stay on the deck for very long, letting Reaper take over giving orders. I hadn’t even realized the entire crew had gone tense until the captain disappeared and they all relaxed.
They were scared of Reaper too, but not in the same way.
It was more like they were scared of disappointing him, not that they were scared he’d murder them for daring to tie a knot wrong or slipping on the deck and knocking into another person.
There was fear there, sure, but there was also respect.
It baffled me why everyone followed Viper instead of making Reaper captain and throwing Viper overboard. The only people who’d miss that evil man were the other murderous pirates in the crew.
They could throw those jerks overboard along with him for all I cared.
“He’s gone,” I said to Willy as soon as Viper went into his room.
Willy breathed out, closing his eyes as he slowly straightened. When he opened them, he sent me a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, Willy. You need to stay out of sight for a while.” It wouldn’t be long before some other poor soul caught Viper’s attention and the man forgot all about Willy. But for now, it was better to be safe than sorry.
He nodded, but we both got distracted when Hawk-Eyes came closer, peeking over the rail and said, “We’re close.” She looked at me, then at Willy. “You two are coming with me.”
I blinked at that. “We are?”
She grinned. “We’re hitting up Sea Serpents, and you’re comin’ with.”
“Uh… what?” Sea serpents? I didn’t want to see a sea serpent.
She chuckled. “Sea Serpents Saloon. They’ve got good beer, whores, and plenty of rooms upstairs, if ya get me. Most of us are going. Not cap and Reap, or Butcher’s crew, but my crew is. You’re comin’ with us.”
Willy said, “You really want me to come?”
She sighed. “Yeah, kid. ‘Course.” Then she walked away without another word.
Willy and I exchanged a look, and I could see how excited he was.
Even though I didn’t particularly want to go somewhere like that, I didn’t want to make him second-guess himself or lose that excitement in his eyes—he deserved a little fun, especially after his recent treatment—so I gave him a small smile and a nod.
He pulled his knit cap down, trying to hide his grin before he rushed away to do some more chores before we docked.
I stayed glued to the rail—all my chores were done for the day, and I needed to stay out of the way while the aeronauts did a ton of complicated things I didn’t understand to the ropes, sails, and rudders so we could land.
I watched the island get closer and closer, surprised to see so much gray and brown.
For some reason, I’d expected greenery—I supposed that was how I pictured an island.
But this place looked like a giant rock just jutted up out of the water at random.
I didn’t think there was a single place to grow crops.
It was cliffy and filled with so much stone, I could feel the magic inside of me reacting to it, even from here.
The stoney ground wasn’t of the magical variety—so no fluxstones formed naturally there, which made sense since they only came from Sunada—but there was enough rock to make my jaw tense.
I hadn’t had the opportunity to use my magic for weeks, and I’d never gone this long without expelling it. My body was a little on edge. I needed to find a stone to charge and soon.
Maybe when we left the ship, I could find a place to release some of my magic into the stone ground there. There was certainly enough of it.
If I charged a regular stone, all I could make it do was explode, or the energy I filled it with would dissipate over time.
No one else would be able to use it, not the way people used fluxstones.
As far as I knew, fluxstones were the only type in the entire world that could absorb my magic and release it as powerable energy.
That was what’d made Sunada such a rich kingdom. Fluxstones were found there and only there. Sunada was the reason our world had power, and they didn’t let the other kingdoms forget it.
On The Black Wraith, there were a bunch of uncharged fluxstones. I could feel them. Every day that passed, more and more stones lost their energy and called to me, like an itch under my skin that I wanted to scratch so, so, so badly.
Every time one of Reaper’s prosthetic fluxstones lost power, every part of me wanted to reach down and recharge it. Honestly, it was difficult to be near him when I could feel them, but his company was worth the discomfort.