CHAPTER 10: PIRATE BOOTY

  WC: 1867

  “Hey there, stranger,” Captain Misana said. She lay on the ground, leaned against the stone wall of a cell right across from mine. Her hand clutched her ribs and red stains indicated she was injured.

  “Captain,” I said, crawling over to the bars.

  “I only just met you, but now our fates are intertwined, it seems.” She gasped for breath. “I’m certainly thankful I didn’t leave you to drown, though I’m not sure what Davi has in store for us is any kinder an end.”

  “How do we get out?” I asked.

  “You still alive, Wynn?”

  “Yes, Captain,” the young mage I met on deck answered. He reached out of his cell and waved his hand so she could see it. “Hale and whole, Captain.”

  Misana groaned and rose. She limped to the front of her cell. “What’s your name?” She smiled to me. “If we’re going to save each other’s lives, I should know your name.”

  “Chaos,” I said.

  “Look around and see if there’s anything we can use to get free.”

  NEW QUEST: ESCAPE FROM YOUR CELL

  The dun-da-dun sound drew my attention to the words that briefly appeared and disappeared in my field of vision. I searched my cell and touched things, waiting to feel anything. When I felt the telltale tingle, I brought back a lockpick in my hand.

  Okay! Now how the heck did I pick a Medieval-looking lock with a bent metal stick? I followed my hand tingles and poked the pick in the lock. It weirdly animated on its own, I guess, because I certainly wasn’t controlling the pick with my conscious thought…you know, since I didn’t even know how it was supposed to work.

  A moment or two of squeezing my hand along with what I thought the cues were saying, and the lock popped open. I opened the door and went across to Captain Misana. She leaned against the bars, panting. “I will free myself and Wynn. Go see if you can find a weapon.”

  I followed the line of cells and in the next one was a skeleton and an overturned bowl. In the next one there was a growling dog behind the closed door, and on the floor across from it, a man’s body outstretched on the floor. A large sword laid next to him. I picked it up and swung it a few times, totally getting used to the way the impulses worked and how the actions followed cues.

  Wynn and Captain Misuna came up behind me and she said, “Let’s move. Be careful up ahead and keep your sword at the ready.”

  I walked up the stairs and they followed.

  We got out of the basement dungeon and found ourselves in a stone and wood building that looked dilapidated and vacant. Dust and cobwebs covered everything, and rats and centipedes scurried across the floor as we passed.

  A guy with leather armor and a nicked sword lumped in front of us.

  Time stopped.

  WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY THE TUTORIAL?

  “Yes,” I said.

  Nothing happened. The letters stayed in my field of vision and I wasn’t sure how to interact with them. I tried swiping my hands in front of me, and squeezing my fists, but I just ended up swinging the sword at the bad guy, and time went back to normal. Maybe I missed my chance?

  A few hits and he fell down dead, and I responded to the hand cue. A jingling sounded and a message popped up.

  4G

  “Let’s keep moving,” Captain Misana said. “We need to find the Jackal before Davi can sell her and everything aboard. I just hope the refugees are all still alive.”

  NEW QUEST: LOCATE CAPTAIN MISANA’S CREW

  NEW QUEST: LOCATE THE GOLDEN JACKAL

  We exited the building and entered a little courtyard with high walls and a canopy of patched orange cloth. Stacks of barrels and crates made it hard to move.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “I’m not sure I can jump up,” Captain Misana said. “Maybe you can get over the wall and unlock the gate for us.”

  I approached the back wall and a stack of barrels. “Well, why not?” I jumped and to my amazement, my skinny thief body jumped exactly the height of a barrel. Convenient. I jumped and jumped, struggling to aim where I would land, but eventually I figured it out and made the three jumps necessary to get over the wall. When I dropped down on the other side, a baddie was waiting for me, so I drew my sword again. This time, time didn’t slow, and he struck me hard before I was ready. I staggered back and squeezed my right hand over and over, and my arm swung out like it was totally comfortable swinging a thick broadsword, but the opponent’s health remained full. Odd.

  BLOCK HEAVY ATTACKS TO DISORIENT YOUR OPPONENT

  Okay, but I didn’t know how to do that. Or, I’d forgotten. I tried recalling Ramon’s teachings. Right hand was attack, was left hand block? I tried it and my sword came up over my head and remained there, waiting for the enemy to strike me. When he did, his sword clanged off of mine and he stumbled backward and bent over double, catching his breath.

  HEAVY ATTACK TO DISPATCH DISORIENTED ENEMIES

  I squeezed my right hand and my sword arm came back and did a full-body swing. It looked like I sliced the guy in half, but he just sort of crumpled and fell dead.

  My health bar was at 75% so I looted and waited for a moment until I had full health again. Even with easy foes, I had no armor and was Lv.1, so I was all about taking it easy and not running headlong into something I couldn’t handle.

  5G

  SMALL WOODEN BUCKLER

  Ooh! A piece of armor. I touched the bracer on my left arm and opened my menu, scrolled down to WEAPONS and selected my left hand. I equipped the buckler and it (holy crap) appeared in my hand!

  I unlocked the gate with my one lockpick and Wynn and the Captain joined me in the alleyway. Before we could take a step, three armed enemies blocked our way. Two held staves in their hands. Time slowed again.

  BASH TO INTERRUPT HEAVY ATTACK OR CASTING

  “They’re mages,” Wynn said. “Interrupt their casting with a bash!” Time returned to normal, and he dashed in front of the injured Captain Misana, putting himself between a swordsman and her. Wynn took a defensive stance and his hands glowed blue. Lightning crackled in front of him like a shield and he stood his ground while I faced the other two.

  One squeeze of the left hand was a Bash Attack, so I tried that. My shield hit the mage in front of me. He windmilled his arms and the casting sparkles disappeared as he stood motionless for a moment. With an opening, I took advantage of his disorientation, and I bashed his buddy too.

  Once they were both dizzy, I swung my sword and looted the bodies.

  11G

  CLOTH CAP

  LEATHER GAUNTLET

  I went over to help Wynn. The swordsman had subtle sparkles around him, indicating he was charging up a heavy attack and I brought up my left hand to block. His sword thudded off my shield and a swirling circle above his head told me he was disoriented. I swung three times, dispatching him too.

  4G

  IRON SWORD

  Right away, I opened my menu and equipped all my new armor. It was Lv.1 junk but better than nothing.

  We stepped to the exit of the alleyway and before us was an open camp.

  Da-dum. QUEST COMPLETE: LOCATE CAPTAIN MISANA’S CREW

  NEW QUEST: FREE THE CREW

  A few campfires with stools or blankets around them were scattered throughout the area, along with piles of crates or tools. One smuggler was kneeling over a cookfire, roasting something over a spit. A group of four men sat around a board table set on two barrels, playing cards. Mead bottles lay empty, scattered around them. More patrolled the area, alone or in pairs. There was no way to go around, the smugglers were scattered along the beach and around the tents and buildings too. Here or there, it appeared men were sitting on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs. "My crew!" Misana said.

  "We must free them, Captain,” Wynn chimed in.

  “I heard them talking,” Captain Misana said, weakly. “When they were dragging me to my cell, I was still conscious. Davi and the others are working for a group of organized smugglers and pirates called the Red Dragon Raiders. If I had to guess, we’re on one of the smaller islands off the coast and they’re using those caves to store what they steal.” She pointed past the beach to an inlet that flowed into a sea cave with a tall and wide mouth. “Maybe there’s still time to find my ship and get out of here.”

  She crouched down. “We’re going to have to sneak past the patrols.”

  CROUCH TO SNEAK

  I followed her lead and crouched down. My movement rate slowed considerably, but I followed Misana and Wynn fell in behind me. We crept across the open space, using some crates for cover while a patrol passed. Misana led us to a building on the far side of camp.

  She collapsed against the side of the building and said, “It’s up to you now, friend. I can’t go on. You must get to the cave and find The Golden Jackal. If you can, free our crew and they will aid you.”

  I crept over to one of the campfires and as I got close, a little eye appeared right under the quest marker dot at the top of my field of vision. It started out all gray, but as I moved closer, the corner turned red, then the middle. I stopped sneaking closer and instead went backward. The red disappeared and the eye was all gray again.

  Figuring out what kind of distance I had to keep to not alert the sentries, I waited and watched their movement patterns, and when the coast was as clear as it was going to get, I moved.

  I untied the first set of crewmen, and they went right to work attacking the patrol nearby. When I had all four groups of crewmen freed, I proceeded on my way toward the cave. Sneaking took way too long, being like half speed, so I just walked the rest of the way, and besides, my stamina bar was draining way too fast while moving in a crouch.

  I entered the mouth of the cave and immediately was relieved.

  Da-dum. QUEST COMPLETE: LOCATE THE GOLDEN JACKAL

  The ship was parked in the cave and looked ready to sail. One second later I was also immediately not-relieved because a huge guy in a fur cloak and wearing a red tunic with a dragon painted on the front stepped in my way. He held a massive double-headed axe in both hands and growled. “Davi insisted on leaving Captain Misana alive for ransom, but he didn’t say anything about you, merchant.”