Archives: Building an Empire at Sea
Chapter 3: Taking of ‘The Freedom’
Malak broke into the light just as the storm hit. He grinned fiercely and went to Terelyn at the helm. “This is going to be wild.” He gripped her hips. It wasn’t meant as a sexual gesture, but he knew how feisty Undine was going to get. Removing one of his hands he pointed to the port. “There it is.”
As he predicted the galleon was coming to rescue them. “We need to drop anchor...the waters are going to get rough.” He muddled up Terelyn’s hair and slipped the spyglass in her belt. “I’ll get you a better one aboard the other ship.” He removed himself from her side and went to making sure all were safe aboard his vessel.
Oddly enough, Terelyn didn’t have a problem with her captain grabbing her by the hips. If it had been anyone else, she would have probably hit the person. But, with him, she didn’t really feel like she needed to be tough or to prove herself. He just seemed to accept it, no questions asked. He was one strange captain.
“Hold on tight, kids!” she yelled. The ship gave a violent lurch that caught her unexpectedly. She slid around the ship a bit as water rose on deck.
Tornalin had been resting against the railing by the anchor as the order was given, he stood up and started to lower it as quickly as he could, making sure there was time to grab his gear once the anchor down. “Anchor is down cap’n, we’re sitting pretty for them.” He then went and found a safe spot to ride the storm out, he did not even once flinch as the ship moved and instead seemed to keep his gaze on the target.
A storm hit all the sudden, causing the ship to rock back and forth on the sea. Varun went about the motions that he knew well of getting the ship ready to ride out the storm, but it was more for a show for the galleon on its way to rescue them. He smirked, knowing his axes were ready at his side, as well as his sword, if needed. Grabbing hold of one of the ropes of the sails, he held it tight as he looked over to the galleon, studying how the other crew members were reacting to the storm.
Tornalin gripped the rails of the ship tightly, his sword and crossbow at his side he was ready for the arrival of the galleon. Of course from a distance he looked like one of the crew hanging on for dear life, the motion of the storm he chose to move with the waves as well.
Mudan braced himself against the mast. He had no idea where the storm had come from, and he wasn’t quite sure of what was going on, but he’d follow orders. Where ever the storm came from, it seemed to be helping them. He wondered if his captain was some sort of sorcerer...
Regardless, the Azarnian youth was ready for a fight. He still had his saber on his belt. He clung tightly to the ropes wrapped around the mast and put his slight weight on the leeward side. His boots were slipping on the slick deck, and if he had anticipated bad weather, he’d be barefoot. However, if they were to take the galleon, it was best that he had most of his belongings on him.
The galleon closed in alongside the Leaky Meal Ticket in attempts to help those aboard the smaller vessel. The galleon’s crew threw lines to Leaky Meal Ticket, and men prepared to save the crew.
Malak took a running leap from the deck of his bought ship to the galleon, his landing broken by a roll. The crew of the galleon at first saw this as him being impatient to board, but when two of the men whom he passed lost their heads, and blood ran down the blades of his twin short swords, the crew of the galleon knew then that this was a pirate raid.
“Come on you bastards!” Malak shouted. “Time to claim our prize.”
Ursula drew her saber and jumped down on the deck. All her belongings were always with her so if they were to leave this ship, she had nothing to loose. The fight had already started. At last a little action… Unfortunately Ursula’s thoughts were quickly interrupted. A man from the galleon aimed a blow at her but she dodged it quickly and cut his head with one blow. Ursula smiled darkly as fresh blood spurted from the body on the deck.
* * *
With her falcon released and her books on her back, Terelyn was already on the rigging of the Galleon. The mast lines of their worthless vessel provided ample swinging distance. To those below, the thud of the man in the crow’s nest, who was armed with a bow, was the only sign of her arrival on the scene. She watched carefully before dropping the unconscious man over the side, letting him fall on one of the other ship mates.
A shrill whistle went through the air, a deadly command for a fast-moving predator. The bird of prey spun into a dove over the men, talons prone. In a mere second, another of the galleon’s men went down with the skin on his face torn like so much cloth.
The first mate threw herself over the crow’s nest, catching another mast line to slow her descent. She landed, unfortunately for her, in front of a group of the crew, who had just risen from below decks.
“We got ya now, girly...”
One man charged forward from the group, but was quickly returned, one side of his face turning purple. Terelyn rubbed her fist. “Anyone else want a taste of that?” Another came at her, but her knee met his groin unexpectedly. I need a weapon, she thought as the man leaned on her. “Whatever,” she muttered, ripping off the man’s belt. It’ll do. She grabbed it and began swinging it around methodically, buckle outwards. As soon as one man made a move, that heavy belt buckle landed in his face. He spun back, pulling next to his friends. I need something bigger, she thought as the group of them got ready to take her down together.
A rope. Terelyn slung the belt at the group as a distraction and ripped the rope at her feet up, swinging it. Lucky for her, there was a broken handle at the end of it. Every part of a ship can be a weapon, her first captain told her. You just have to know how to use it. The engineer brought up the momentum by spinning it and, whenever someone came near, she let it loose in their direction and yanked it back quickly.
Despite her newest weapon choice, taking them all out without injury would be impossible. She needed help, but she was on the far end of the ship. Was anyone able to get to her?
* * *
Red Ear awoke to screaming victims and battle cries. He knew it was time, so he pick up a fishing net and flung it across to the galleon trapping three unaware seamen. He then pulled the net back with full strength knocking them off their feet, and snaring them. He ran over to the mast of the Leaky Meal ticket and tied the net down with an eight knot, leaving the seamen on the side of the ship hanging over water to sink with the ship. He then pulled out his blades and threw his body across to the galleon ship. Ghost had already made her way over and was scouting the ship while dodging feet and blades.
* * *
Seeing the captain was already aboard the ship, Varun didn’t waste time dropping the rope he was holding and did a running jump onto the galleon, pulling out his hand axes and driving them down with a powerful chop into two unsuspecting sailor skulls. The blood squirted out as he easily pulled the axes out, charging into battle and ignoring everyone that got in his way. He was using every part of his body for battle, slashing the axes, slamming his fist or knees into anyone, and making sure to use the iron plates on his gloves to deflect attacks at him, that he could ignoring the stinging cuts he got. He only had one goal to take the head of the galleon captain for his own.
* * *
Tornalin boarded as quickly as he could after securing a rope to the mast and swinging over, once on board he proceeded to assist in the slaughter. Pulling out his hand crossbow he made his way to Terelyn’s position, firing at crew mates along the way. In one hand was his longsword and the other his crossbow, once he got to the end of the ship he used his crossbow to keep the first mate covered.
“You going to lose, so give up and die! Their spirits demand your sacrifice!” he shouted as he kept reloading and firing, fending off attackers between shots as well with his sword. His sword was bloody but not as covered as he would like it, and he was having to dodge more often. He was running out of bolts quickly, something he would need to remedy quickly.
* * *
Mudan watched his crew mates spring into action, and followed. He took off at a sprint from the mast he’d clung to, striding across the deck. He stepped up on the railing in mid-stride, then launched himself across the gap between the vessels, drawing his saber as he was air borne.
In his path was one terrified young sailor about his age. Mudan slashed with his saber as he fell, the blade tearing across the sailor’s face and chest. He twisted with the impact and fell aside, as good as dead. Mudan landed and let his legs give way to avoid hurting himself. He caught himself in a combat roll which brought him right back to his feet.
The galleon’s deck was in chaos, and its crew was quickly thinning out. Mudan thought it would be best to stick near one of his own, for his safety and his crew mate’s.
The attention of a nearby sailor fell on him, and he was charged. Mudan leapt aside, dropped down to a crouch to avoid a swing, then as the sailor ambled by, Mudan rose to his feet and swung his blade at the sailor’s neck. The saber bit into the vertebrae and the sailor collapsed. Mudan wrenched his blade from the body and continued toward the nearest crew mate, Ursula, much to his pleasure.
The Azarnian bolted toward Ursula. Another sailor fell backwards in his path, having been elbowed by his crew mate. Mudan reacted with a downward swing that tore through the sailor’s midsection. It took no work to remove his blade from that one, and he continued toward the lavender haired beauty slashing her own way through the sailors.
A sailor was running toward Ursula from behind with sword drawn, and Mudan darted forward to meet him from the flank, slamming his shoulder into the sailor. The unexpected attack sent Ursula’s would-be-attacker over the railing of the deck and into the sea.
* * *
Lilly took to the other ship, launching herself at the first available target, her keen Alecrastian rapier sliding effortlessly through the man’s throat. As she perforated his windpipe with the tip, she knew that it was a lucky blow, one she happily accepted as a windfall. She removed the tip from the flailing man, and took off towards Terelyn.
Her foot was grabbed by another sailor, the sudden action making her fall to her chest. She retorted, her blade wheeling back and catching her would be assailant across his eyes, scoring them out as he released her. The impact to the deck was enough to force the wind from her lungs but she was going to help Terelyn regardless of her current condition.
* * *
As the fighting went on Red Ear noted a barrel of rum on their soon to be new galleon, and made his way there. Spilling the blood of out matched sea men was of little appeal to him. So he fought those in this way to the keg and any who bothered him at the keg where tossed over board. Ghost ran about and gather a piece of gold here and there and brought them back to Red Ear. “Aye this be the good life!” Red Ear shouted while pounding the grog.
* * *
Malak stalked to the captain of the vessel ruthlessly cutting all that got in his way. The first mate tried to intervene but the older, more experienced pirate removed his head without much of a skirmish and presented it to the captain. He pinned the captain to the wall by both shoulders, his short swords digging through the flesh bone and sinew of the captain, making him squeal in pain.
“Yield,” Malak growled.
“M-Men!” the captain yelled. “Cease attacking. We’re outclassed here.”
“Your ship is mine.” Malak twisted the blades a little in the captain’s shoulders. “Remove your filthy crew from my ship and return to your leaky vessel.” He removed the blades from the captain’s shoulders and let the crew go back to the leaky meal ticket.
When the previous merchant crew had left the galleon, Malak watched them sail away, still holding off from celebrating. He hushed Undine the storm dying immediately afterward.
“Stow your gear below decks,” Malak ordered. The old Leaky Meal Ticket was still floundering in the water, and he was going to put it and the crew out of his misery.
The men around Terelyn began to back off, although it wasn’t for the reason she wanted it to be. With her rather threatening rope spinning in the air, she wanted to drop a few more and see them run, but it looked as if the Captain had that well in hand already. Too bad. As soon as they were far enough away, she tossed the rope aside with a heavy sigh. “Finally...”
“Wait!” she yelled out before the galleon captain was about to board the other ship. He stopped, anger clear on his face. She looked him over. “Take off your jacket,” she ordered. “Now.” Slowly, he dropped it to the ground. “Hand it to me with your hat too.” He did so. With a grin, Terelyn slipped on the captain’s jacket and hat. “Good man.” Terelyn began to walk around him, as if to go away. “Now get moving!” she barked, kicking him in the rear to send him across the thin gangplank toward their old ship. He almost fell off. Terelyn walked over to the captain, pleased with her new booty. “I’m going to find the navigation tools. Where are we headed?”
* * *
Tornalin went below deck after the fighting had subsided and stowed his gear, behind him he was dragging the body of somebody who was almost dead who looked at the dwarf with sheer fright. “You’re going to have to do for the sacrifice, now shut up and stay still.”
He quickly found a place out of the way below deck and strung the body up with his rope, after placing a bucket below the body he made sure it would collect the blood. After stowing his gear and setting out his smithing tools he came back up and looked around, there was much work to be done and he would start right away.
* * *
Malak watched Tornalin drag a near dead man below decks, his eyes narrowed at the display, and nearly drew him to rage. He was going to light the leaky meal ticket on fire using Salamander, but now that he had to deal with insubordination, his mood darkened.
He turned to the rest of his crew. “I’ll warn you now: cross me, I’ll kill you.” He looked to the smear of blood leading below decks. “I have an idiot to skin. Terelyn, you have the helm. Take us to Alecrast. We need to sell the cargo we acquired, after all, we’re a ‘merchant vessel’.”
He went below decks to deal with Tornalin and his stupidity. The Bloody Shrike was about to have his first run at his old namesake.
* * *
Tornalin was on edge at the moment, he was not going to sleep for a while if he was interrupted. The cloth belt sat in the bucket too, so he could stain it more. Keeping an eye out for anything he worked feverishly to finish, the man would have lasted not even five minutes after he got to their old ship.
“Your not going to get me, I’ll appease your hunger... Why do you demand this of me, when you gave me nothing in my life to even deserve this...” he muttered to himself, he had to leave his shop too soon and there was already a fresh container waiting there. He had to improvise for the moment until they made landfall, maybe there he could make another before they left port.
Malak kicked in the door where Tornalin was. “You better have a good goddamn explanation for this, dwarf, or so help me, Marfa, I’ll bury you to your beard and watch the tide come in.” He grabbed the dwarf by the shirt and placed his blade against his throat. “They don’t call me the ‘Bloody Shrike’ for nothing, dwarf.”
Tornalin looked at Malak and the belt which was getting redder, he would explain but this one would be a stretch unless they knew about madness. “My murdered family demand this of me each week, my belt is their instrument and control over me. If they are not given what they want they torment me, like they are now. I must make them quiet, I must give them blood.” He made sense to himself, but then his master had always indulged this activity. On his own it was harder to get done, and now he was in threat of death from it.
Malak flurried quickly, mincing the belt to ribbons. Tornalin was soon holding only the buckle as the rest of the cloth lay on the floor. “That is my warning, dwarf,” he growled. “Pull a stunt like this again, and I will kill you outright.”
Malak left the dwarf with his non-existent belt and moved up to the deck. His anger was stilted, and he was thinking no more worse event could come this day.
* * *
“Alright, boys!” Terelyn called out as the captain walked off after Tornalin. She hoped he wouldn’t die. Terelyn wasn’t interested in hunting new crew members out and the galleon would need every hand it could get. The first mate adjusted her jacket and hat. “Get ready to take off. Stow your junk below deck. Red Ear, break down the planks connecting us to them. Lilly, below deck and see what we got. Varun, get the rigging ready to sail full speed ahead. Mudan, find the captain’s quarters and grab the maps and navigation equipment. Ursula,” she looked over at the newest crew member, though not really by choice. She tossed the spy glass Malak handed her to Ursula. “You have the crow’s nest. Keep an eye on our gracious benefactors and look out for anyone else on the way. Get to work!” she yelled, turning back towards the helm.
Terelyn donned the position of the helm and began to direct the ship slowly away from the violent waters that held the old ship in place. The first mate gave a shrill whistle that rang across the deck. In swift reply, the falcon she had brought with her let out her own cry before flying down to land on the railing. More than anything, she just wanted to make sure the bird was there.
Mudan relaxed his stance and moved closer to Ursula as the crew evacuated. He crouched down and wiped his blade on one of the sailors she’d slain, then sheathed it. “Good fight,” he said to the woman with a smirk. Grabbing the dead sailor’s ankles, he pulled the body toward the railing and tossed it over the side.
“Yeah, a few pleasant minutes. So you’re Mudan I suppose, you fought well boy,” Ursula replied to Azarnian foreigner, but then she heard Terelyn calling her name. “By the way I’m Ursula. Well, I must go now, see ya later!” she gave a wink to him and went to the helm.
Mudan wasn’t sure what to expect from Ursula. She called him boy, but she also winked to him. He shrugged it off and went on with his assigned duty.
* * *
Lilly took to Terelyn’s orders and went below decks. She went to see what, if anything they had below decks. Lilly was light on her steps so she passed Malak without much as a whisper and descended to the cargo hold. She heard soft coughing, and at first thought perhaps there was another stowaway aboard. As she drew closer to the cargo hold, her senses told her otherwise. She could smell human life, and upon descending into the cargo hold her jaw dropped. Forty to fifty on first count, women, children, and men, and bound to the walls crammed in the small quarters like canned fruit. Her heart nearly broke, the few children that there were there were whimpering and fearful of everything, their eyes unadjusted to the sudden influx of light.
Lilly peeled herself away from the scene and went to Terelyn at the helm. She didn’t want to seem like a prissy woman, but the captain was busy dealing with Tornalin and that left the first mate to deal with ship problems.
“Terelyn, sir,” she spoke softly. “We have about fifty heads aboard in the hold. I think this was a slaver’s ship. Should I inform the captain, or...” She was unsure what to say. Coming from privilege she never learned the cruelties of slavery, so she was unaccustomed to dealing with it.
“Slaves? Damn it!” Terelyn brushed the hair from her face. She hated this. Stealing from the rich was one thing, but human lives? That was the one thing she never touched. Unlike gold or spice, not only was slavery dangerous, but hard to do. She had absolutely no experience in dealing with slavers, nor did she want to. If they had no problems selling lives, her old captain said, they would have no problem breaking deals with people. Life meant nothing to them but a few gold pieces each. Terelyn didn’t work that way.
“Wait until he comes up,” she responded quickly, looking around. “I don’t know whether or not we will be sticking our heads up into this kind of business. That’s the captain’s choice.” What to do... What to do... She certainly didn’t want to let them out of the hold. Who knew what they would do? “Women and kids too?”
Lilly responded in the affirmative.
Great... Just great! We had to catch the slaver wave! Well, that answered the question of why they came to save us, she thought. We were probably going to be slave ship workers, not rescued. “Leave them for now. When the captain comes up, he will make the call. He chooses the business we do. We’ll discuss it.” This ship was going to need remodeling. Slavers were dangerous people to tangle with. They couldn’t be sailing around with such a blatant theft.
For a split second, Terelyn showed a sign of caring. Her head hung low. “What condition were they in?” If her family was in there, she wouldn’t hesitate to help them.
* * *
Red Ear finished his drink and pulled the planks over to their new ship. ”No sense in wasting good wood,” he muttered. He then continued to cut and remove any ropes that tied them to the other ship.
“All set ma lady,” Red Ear shouted with his best “proper” accent. He then laughed and sat back down on the barrel, leaning back on the railing he watched the sky go by and listen to the ocean. “A fine new adventure we gotten our selves into now Ghosty,” he said with a big grin.
Ghost was licking her self clean, but stopped to reply with a simple meow.
* * *
Ursula was at her observation post holding a spy glass Terelyn had given her. Why always me to do the dirty work? She sighed. It was hot and the tail-wind was playing with her violet hair; the horizon was clear and the sea was calm, everything seemed to be well for now.
* * *
Malak returned to the top deck, still a little growly. Without much thought he went to the bow of the ship and turned his fingers outward. “Mighty bestial flame, Salamander, kiss the vessel that Undine once touched, burn the souls and bodies to naught.” The lizard like flame shot from his outstretched fingers striking the Leaky Meal Ticket with the full brunt of Malak’s anger. When it was reduced to ash Malak turned to Terelyn.
“You have the look of someone who has seen something she’s unaccustomed to. You as well Lillian.” Malak waited for a response calmly. His anger was satiated by the dark control over the salamander just moments before. He didn’t care if the crew now knew what they were dealing with. Malak the Crimson Shrike was reborn.
Terelyn threw herself out of the rut immediately without waiting for Lilly to respond. “Our cargo, sir, happens to be people. We are on a slaver’s vessel,” she said, almost growling it out. She was sure Malak knew about the industry and the danger it entailed. Even some pirates didn’t like slavery. Terelyn didn’t appreciate the business, herself. It was messy, dangerous, and difficult. “We have somewhere around fifty, according to Lilly. Men, women, and children.”
She hesitated about speaking her mind. Her opinion only mattered if the captain wanted it or if she intended to walk off of the boat when they got to port, so she kept it to herself. It was Malak’s decision, not hers. So, she waited for him.
Malak darkened. “Slaves. I heard they dealt with black market merchandise...” he growled. “Terelyn, make this ship fly to Alecrast, Lilly, tend to the slaves: food, water, anything they need.” He yelled up to the crows nest. “Ursula, keep an eye out for other ships.”
He barked to Varun and Mudan. “You two, get to work, follow Terelyn’s lead, do as she commands. I’ll take stock of what munitions and supplies we have.”
He turned back to Lilly and spoke in Alecrastian, {“You had better use your contacts in the homeland to better the slaves lives, miss Erstweil.”}
“Jump to it!” he yelled and descended below decks once again.
Lilly blanched at the captain’s sudden fluent switch to Alecrastian. She noticed how smoothly it rolled off his tongue but it wasn’t until after he left that she came to her senses. He was a native speaker! She caught herself thinking how he could possibly know so much, and magic to boot. She shook her head and took to her respective duties. Why the captain wanted the slaves free and content was beyond Lilly’s comprehension. She was against slavery, but this was a pirate captain, not a missionary of some holy order trying to right the wrongs of society. There was more to her captain than met the eye, that much she was sure of.
She ducked below decks, taking to the slaves, and meeting their basic needs. She wasn’t sure if this was a ploy or not on Malak’s end, and she wasn’t entirely sure whether or not she was just being told to stay out of the way. Never the less she took to her duties like an angel from some divine comedy, mending the poor battered souls that were forced onto this ship.
And so the ship came alive. The slaver’s galleon was top-notch. As a ship’s engineer, she had seen the best there was to find—and drew them. This was made for speed. It made sense for slavers. They never carried too many. Just enough to make a fat profit and small enough to hide if necessary. With the order given, the men tightened the sails and she steered them towards Alecrast in a hurry. Those navigational tools never arrived, so she was sailing blind, but you didn’t have to be a genius to know that Alecrast was away from the coast of Lodoss.
“Where the hell are those maps...?” she muttered.
* * *
The captain’s quarters were easy enough to find, but the man was well organized. While it would have been easy for him to find what he needed, Mudan had to check nearly every drawer in the desk and room before he found a neat roll of charts. The sextant was in a cabinet across the room, and the compass in a desk drawer. Mudan slipped a set of paperweights in his pockets, then returned up to the deck with the necessary items and brought them to Terelyn.
* * *
“By thunder…” Red Ear gasped at the display of fire and ash. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it done just the first time with such fury and being a bit tipsy didn’t help. “We best keep an eye out for the cap Ghosty, he be a troubled man.” Red Ear whispered to Ghost, and she responded with a low pitch meow.
Red Ear tighten his sash and walked up to Terelyn, “When those twinkly lights come up I’d be more than happy to help navigate these waters, but with out them an old sailor like myself is lost.” He gave her a big grin and a soft punch to the shoulder, then walked to the edge of the ship to catch the main breeze. Ghost followed and sat down by his foot.
Terelyn took note of Red Ear’s offer as the maps and items arrived. She shoved Mudan towards the helm as she traded places with him. “Just keep her steady while I figure out where we are going...”
Mudan took the helm awkwardly. In all his time on ships, he had yet to take the helm. He had observed though, and Terelyn’s instructions were simple. Mudan held the wheel firmly and kept it from turning.
Terelyn scanned over the maps, glancing back at the compass several times. Her eyes darted with her fingers, drawing invisible lines on the paper. Alecrast wasn’t a place she had much experience with, so she picked the only port that she knew of.
The port city of Mirarra relied heavily on importing and exporting products. Anything could be bought or sold in such a place, legal or otherwise. Terelyn knew nothing of the nation, if there was one there at all. In fact, she never got past the docks there. Alecrast was a mystery for her, but, on her previous ship, that was the only place they ever went on that continent and they could always sell their product, no matter what it was, there. There was some semblance of justice there, unlike Raiden, but not much. The guards only seemed to interfere if it was so obvious that their reputation would go down if they didn’t act.
Her captain probably knew more about it than she did, but he wasn’t calling any shots on location. She stood up and said, “Mirarra,” to no one in particular. “Get off the wheel,” she ordered, taking control of the ship again. With compass in hand, she made corrections to lay down a path. The oceans best not have strong currents out there, she thought. I’ve never sailed to Alecrast as either the helmsman or the navigator before...
And move on the party did. Terelyn pushed the ship to its limits, discovering what she could and could not do. The galleon was definitely fast. Faster than most, she guessed. The design allowed it to have good maneuverability as well. She liked it already. Because of the shape of the thing, however, Terelyn figured that ramming other ships with it probably wouldn’t be so hot of an idea unless she build up extra supports in the front and added a ramming head.
