Chapter 14

  Erbosa wore a frown on her face as Sannan approached her the following evening. He had expected a feast, with long tables lined with food from all nations. Instead, the highest ranking captains of the Iron Serpent Fleet had gathered at the town square. Mostly a mix of Sarhidians and Huaxia, all were tense and eyeing one another; hunting cats ready to strike at a moment’s notice. A beautiful man with flowing, teal streaked white hair spoke up.

  “So what is the consensus, Erbosa? Do we go after this island, or do we take back Tal Adol from U’lua?”

  He fingered the hilt of his sword unconsciously. Thin and elongated, it was unlike any sword Sannan had ever known. No doubt it was as beautiful as its user, curved ever so slightly with a teal tassel dangling from the hilt.

  A stocky brute of a man growled, “I still cannot believe U’lua had the nerve to seize some of our territory.” He shot an accusatory glare at the white haired pirate captain.

  “If only you did a better job of protecting the island. We all expect better from the First division, Fengren.”

  Fengren retorted, “in my defense, U’lua is a Pirate Lord. I was lucky to have fended her off for as long as I did.”

  Erbosa stamped her right foot, arms folded beneath her breasts. “I won’t have you all bickering like children! My vote is that we investigate the phantom island. I’m sure we can all agree Zevros has caused us far more trouble in recent memory than U’lua.”

  “But-!” The stocky man was cut off by a sinewy Sarhidian woman. She was clearly blind, with a band of cloth wrapped around her eyes. At its center was a cryptic symbol resembling a simplified sunburst.

  “Silence, Atram. I say we leave it to a vote. All in favor of going after the Sea Snake?” Four out of the six captains raised a hand, including Erbosa herself. “Aye!” They all shouted in unison. Atram looked flabbergasted, while the youngest of all the captains, a plumply pretty girl not much older than Zari, resorted to sulking in silence.

  “Then it is decided,” Erbosa announced. All around them, a crowd partly composed of Isle Durna civilians and captains belonging to the various divisions began chatting amongst themselves excitedly.

  “We do not know what to expect from that island. As far as I am concerned, it may well be a trap.” Argue as he might, but by the defeated tone of his voice, Atram knew the fleet’s course was set.

  “That is what makes it exciting, not knowing what to expect.” Erbosa grinned confidently. “I am sure we will make it out just fine. The first, third, and fourth divisions that is. Captains Atram and Galanine will maintain protection of Isle Durna and our other territories in case any other pirate decides to try something funny.”

  Atram’s shock was quite evident, for a face that looked carved from stone. “What?”

  “Atram, we do as the Pirate Empress commands,” Galanine said. Young as she was, her demeanor spoke of someone with decades more experience than what one would assume at first glance. Her challenging gaze shut Atram up immediately. Soon enough, the crowd dispersed as the captains rejoined their respective crews to relay the new orders. Sannan could not find the chance to speak with the Pirate Empress, as a crowd of civilians soon blocked her off as soundly as a door slamming shut in his face. Shaking his head, he turned to Zari.

  “What is all this about a phantom island?” Unfortunately, she looked just about as confused as he was.

  Zari replied, “how about we ask Captain Fengren?”

  Sannan gulped, turning over to where Fengren stood chatting with his vice captain. The man was tense as a coiled spring, and his imperious gaze made Sannan feel he was approaching a nation’s ruler. Alas, he mustered up the courage to step over and ask.

  “Sir, could you explain what all the talk is regarding a phantom island? Is this where the Sea Snake is currently situated?” Fengren cut off his discussion and promptly turned to regard Sannan with those cold eyes of his. His expression softened, however, upon seeing Zari.

  “We suspect the Sea Snake is using this island as a base to launch his operations. It does not show up on any map, however. Submersible ironclads were used to verify that this island does exist and given the Sea Snake’s attack pattern, it is our best lead right now.”

  Fengren’s vice captain spoke up, a balding man with a decade’s worth of battle scars worn proudly on his bare arms. Similar to Arakh, his gentle voice belied his warrior-like stature.

  “Preparing for an assault of this scale will take some time. We need to mobilize enough forces for a worst case scenario that we are dealing with hundreds of those sea pirates. I myself have been training the men with techniques specific to dealing with sea creatures of all varieties. Defeat after defeat we have suffered, and partly because some pirates don’t know what to do when faced with a fish-man, or an octopus-man.” The vice captain winced.

  “Nereid help me, I still cannot believe I am talking about half sea animal people like they are actually real, but here we are.” A few other crew members were eavesdropping, and one lanky Sarhidian shuddered at the thought of having to face the Sea Snake’s monsters again. Another tried to laugh it off.

  “At any rate,” Fengren said. “We set sail tomorrow, so the men will have to make do with whatever training they have been afforded thus far. Zari, I understand we are dealing with the man who took away your crew, and to that I offer my condolences. But I just hope you will not let your emotions get the better of you when next we face him.”

  Zari’s grip tightened on her bow. “Whatever is past is past. As I mentioned to Erbosa before, all I want is closure. Besides, I have been working on a new weapon that just might catch him off guard.”

  New weapon? That would have to be a question for the future. Fengren nodded in understanding, then turned to his crew and began issuing orders to prepare the ships. His crew members scurried over to the docks in a massive wave without a moment’s hesitation. As Fengren and his vice captain followed suit, Sannan quietly commented to Zari.

  “He seems to have a soft spot for you.”

  “Captain Fengren used to enjoy sparring with my father. He usually wins two fights out of three, but he always welcomes the challenge.”

  “Do you think he is a match for Zevros the Sea Snake?”

  Zari smiled. “Next to the Pirate Empress herself, he is my best bet. Granted, if what that monster said was true that he has become stronger, who can say?”

  Sannan nervously fingered the hilt of one of his daggers. “I just worry I will be helpless in the face of the Sea Snake’s crew. Without Khanrea, I very well might be taken out early on.”

  In response, Zari sat down beneath the awning of one of the plaza shops, a boutique displaying a varied assortment of Alorrian lace dresses. She looked up towards the sky with a look of contemplation. Sannan soon joined her.

  “Khanrea is only your first artifice, Sannan,” said Zari. “Bringing it in is quite brash, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Khanrea’s directive will be to protect me, and I won’t have it firing any shots.”

  “That’s fair, but to be honest, you don’t have to rely on the artifice. Not everyone has to be an Olberan or an Erbosa to contribute to a pirate crew. Out on the high seas, battles are fought and won in a variety of different ways.”

  Sannan replied with a grimace. “But all it takes is an opponent closing the distance to end me. Especially someone as agile as the Sea Snake, whose blade has further reach than my daggers.”

  Zari frowned. “Why are you doubting yourself all of a sudden? What happened to that bold attitude you displayed when we fought the Sea Snake’s crew the first time?”

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  “Two battles I have been involved with, and I was taken out before I ever got to see the outcome of either,” Sannan answered, eyes shaded with embarrassment.

  “In any battle you have to watch your surroundings. For large scale confrontations that will get troublesome, but we all have to make the most out of tough situations. I’ll admit, I was not aware of that octopus thing sneaking up behind me until it was too late.”

  Sannan nodded to himself, though it came off as half-hearted.

  “That’s enough about fighting those pirates. I wanted to ask you about Alorria. Are you sure you want to delay a visit to the High City? You were so eager to do it before.”

  “There is much about Lumix core powered devices and artifices that I can learn outside of the Aphelos Academy. Azala was living proof of the fact. If anything, I want to find someone like her, who shares my interest in artifices and who could collaborate with me.”

  Sannan’s eyes lit up all of a sudden and his words came out in a torrent. “Or even better, a team! A group of us working on a mechanical wonder such as those airships of old. Oh, that is reason enough to attend the Academy, but I hope I can find such people in Alorria.”

  “Are you planning to travel to Alorria primarily because I expressed interest in it?” Zari’s tone gradually turned sour. “I did not think much of it at first, but that is the impression I am starting to get.”

  “Even if Alorria did not house a single engineer, I would still go. It is a beautiful city, after all. Though now that I think about it, it only feels right to pay a visit to my family in Port Besaar. Not a day goes by that I regret having left them without explaining myself in person.”

  “Right then. We should rest up before tomorrow’s excursion.” Zari straightened to her feet, pausing to adjust her feathered hairpin. “See you in the morning.”

  Upon waving goodbye, Zari left to join a group of pirates streaming out of the town square. Sannan stifled a yawn. All that time building Khanrea has taken a toll on his sleep cycle, even with the breaks he started taking. As he made his way back to his workshop turned living quarters, one question kept nagging at him. How was he going to introduce a pirate captain’s daughter to his family?

  …

  A blanket of gray clouds blotted out the sun the following morning, too light to promise rain but too heavy to rule it out completely. It was dangerous sailing under those conditions, not knowing if a storm would strike out of the blue. That was not going to deter Erbosa, however.

  The armada that she assembled was smaller than Sannan had expected, and he sincerely hoped it meant the Pirate Empress was not underestimating her foe. In addition to the Jormagand, four other ships were being prepared for boarding. That is, if the two partially submerged iron wrought vessels could be considered ships. Erbosa nicknamed them Sea Phantoms, and the reason for it was not difficult to surmise. Razor’s Edge and Stormbreaker were the two hulks handpicked for the expedition, belonging to the first and fourth divisions respectively. The former was a hybrid of the sleeker lancer model and bulky galleons such as Sarvaq’s Blood Serpent; the latter a beast of a ship whose size rivaled that of the Jormagand itself. Crew members were hurrying about their chores, tending to the sails and stocking up cannon ammunition.

  “Listen, none of us knows what to expect from that island.” Erbosa addressed Fengren, alongside a retinue of her most trusted crew officers. “But whatever we encounter there, this is our opportunity to reassert the power of the Iron Serpent Fleet. If that rat Zevros thinks he can spell our downfall, he is sorely mistaken!”

  All pirates in Erbosa’s vicinity let out a roar of assent, raising swords and fists into the air. Sannan had just arrived on the scene accompanied by Khanrea. Several sets of eyes fixated on the boy and his artifice, but he did his best to ignore them.

  “This could potentially be our first bout of fighting, Khanrea. I will watch your back, and you watch mine. Understood?”

  The towering artifice inclined its head. As it trudged down the docks, it calmly surveyed the nearby pirates in turn. Sometimes Sannan wondered how Khanrea perceived the world through that unblinking, iridescent eye. Zari approached him from behind, looking well rested since he last saw her yesterday.

  “Are you doing alright?”

  “Well enough.” Truth be told, it was hard not to worry about what was to come. Sannan still remembered the flames from that day, all the dead littered across the deck.

  Whether or not Zari was troubled, not a hint of it showed on her face. “When we get back from this, we do have that feast to look forward to. Even if you don’t make it out of this alive, I will make it my personal mission to drag you back out of the afterlife.”

  Sannan managed to crack a smile. Erbosa, Khanrea, Zari, they were all in this together. Gods above, he will be fighting alongside a pirate lord! What did he have to fear?

  Erbosa had mobilized her forces in short order. Caraseers, with their distinctive rust red coats that flared out around the waist, began boarding the two hulks. Next to a pirate captain, they were the most feared class of pirate out on the high seas. Sannan could not begin to guess what a caraseer was, but he knew it wise to give them space. There were also two proficient cannoneers on the Pirate Empress’s crew whose names Sannan never learned. Both were tanned, athletic men wielding cannons as tall as himself, and their faces were all hard lines and angles. Neither so much as glanced in his direction. Following on the heels of Zari, Sannan made his way onto the deck of the Jormagand. The titanic ship’s ribbed sails rippled ever so slightly from the harsh wind.

  Although he could spend the rest of his time noting the myriad of pirates under Erbosa’s command, Sannan took in the ocean in all its expansive grandeur. Soon Khanrea was at his side, accompanied by Zari.

  “What is the maximum weight that Khanrea can support?” Zari wondered to herself, staring at the artifice’s shoulder. Sannan made no further comment and waited as the Jormagand took off to sea, with the other two hulks trailing not far behind. Looking back, Sannan could see that Fengren was captaining Razor’s Edge, while Stormbreaker was captained by the blindfolded woman.

  A hard voice spoke from behind him. “Strange as it may sound to you, I can never imagine life away from the sea.” Erbosa was standing next to the ship’s railing with her greatsword propped upright beneath her left hand. One of the cannoneers stood just a few paces off, arms crossed with a frown on his face.

  “Most of us pirates were brought up to brave the sea’s challenges. But you, Sannan. You have adapted quite well to life out at sea. From your perspective, seasickness might as well not exist. And so I can already see the makings of a fine cannoneer in you.” She gave a regretful smile. “Which is why it is a shame you have to go off on your own path so soon. Think about it, waking up everyday to the view of the sea, the feeling of the ocean’s breeze at your back. Makes you reconsider, does it not?”

  Sannan retorted. “I won’t tolerate living a pirate’s life. How do you do it, Erbosa? Living every day of your life knowing there are wanted posters for you in almost every nation. Knowing that you will not be able to visit Kesaya without starting a war.”

  He was shocked he actually said all that to a Pirate lord’s face. Immediately he wanted to take it all back, but then Erbosa started laughing out loud.

  “Did I not mention before that I live for the thrill of the hunt? I also live to embrace danger. If I am not around to keep those other two idiots in check, the whole Thalassian Sea devolves into chaos. Besides, I would not want to travel to Kesaya even if the Panarch herself offered me to go. I foresee that I’ll miss the sea too much.”

  Sannan shook his head in disbelief. There was some screw loose in this woman’s head.

  Erbosa’s exuberance quickly faded away. “Whatever the case, I won’t force you or Zari to do anything. Just know that the two of you will always have a place in my crew.” That said, she swiftly turned and retreated to the sterncastle.

  Sannan muttered, “no pirate has any business being this friendly.” Glancing at Zari, he realized just how nonsensical that sounded. For the time being neither made any comment regarding the Pirate Empress. Several hours passed before Sannan was approached by the cannoneer, glaring down at him with his one good eye. A black eyepatch covered the other and was marked with a sunburst symbol.

  “A kid like you has no business being involved with this expedition,” he said in a gruff voice.

  Zari gritted her teeth. “I will have you know that I am around his age.”

  The large man was unfazed. “You lack experience, is all. I can tell from just one look. Simply put, I don’t know what the Pirate Empress sees in you.”

  “That may be right,” said Sannan. “But if there is any chance Azala or any of Zari’s old crew is on that island, then I have to go.”

  “You’re not a trained cannoneer.”

  “Then I will prove myself soon enough. Honestly, compared to swordsmanship or even knife fighting, shooting a cannon is simple business. You just have to be careful about the collateral damage a stray shell might cause.”

  After giving one last indignant look, the nameless cannoneer stalked off.

  “Don’t mind him, Sannan. You cannot expect everyone on a pirate crew as large as this to warm up to you. I do wonder though, what made you pick up that cannon in the first place?”

  “I stole it from a weapons broker,” Sannan answered. “At the time I wanted to specialize in a weapon that kept me at a distance from my enemies. Which reminds me, I intended on modifying the cannon a while back with a Lumix core. With my current understanding of how conduits work, it is completely feasible.”

  “Just how are you going to modify it?”

  “This might sound ambitious, but having to continuously reload the shells is a significant drawback for me. I want a cannon that fires energy shots as opposed to physical shells.”

  Zari laughed softly. “I can’t say I have ever heard of such a cannon before.”

  “It will definitely take me a while to figure out, but I am confident I can make it happen eventually.” Inwardly, Sannan certainly felt confident about it. The completion of Khanrea emboldened him, demonstrating to him that his days spent tinkering with machine scraps had paid off. At the moment, the towering artifice was being warded away from touching one of the ballistas by a pair of flustered Sarhidians.

  “Zari, have you ever thought of assisting me with any of this?”

  “Only in your wildest dreams. I cannot differentiate between a module and a conduit, let alone help you construct an energy firing cannon.”

  Sannan smiled to himself. It was worth a shot.