Ch.10 Enthralling Piracy

I stared at the Lord's in shock. I had been gone and more than I could imagine had been killed by Hatos. "Who killed you all?"

"My Lady, we do not know. We only know of the great dragons that fell upon us suddenly."

I thought back to all that had been happening. "Yes. I fought them and made them leave. My town was greatly damaged by them."

"I remember something," said a small heir clinging to his father. "A man a bit older than you with a very older man. He was all wrinkly and aged."

The Lord's that were deceased thought hard. "I do remember the younger one."

That was the key to them all. I grasped one of the Lord's cold hands. "Please! Try to think of more! This is the only lead I got!"

"Aeno. That's the only name I heard someone speak before all was gone." The Lord whispered looking grieved. "That's all I know to tell you, Lady Sell."

This helped me out more than he knew. I smiled shaking his hand. "Thank you, Lord. That name actually helps me out a great deal. Now I know where all of this is coming from. Thank you. May you all rest in peace now?"

In a brilliant light the Lord's all turned towards a great door that was starting to open up for them. I walked amongst them smiling, leading them to the beyond. One by one, they went in and disappeared, leaving me there to watch the doors close and the light fade. I turned away to stand next to Lady Ananon and her mother sitting under the pastel tree. My eyes burned with anger.

"It seems you now know your course of action." Ananon said softly looking up to me.

I turned to her with pride and anger that wanted to burst from my chest. "I now know what the Lord's will be facing on the field. I now know what lies ahead of us all."

"Go, Lady Sell. Go now and travel this path that you've discovered. See what truth you can uncover on your way."

I nodded walking away with words of farewell in a muttered voice before disappearing back to the living. I awoke to find myself alone in the hotel. My horse the only one in the field grazing as I looked out the window. I sighed fixing my hair and seeing a note on my dresser. Picking up the paper I saw that it was from Dra'tor.

"Sell, I'm going to part ways with you to cover more ground. I'll meet back up with you again soon. I've left my helper with you. He went into town for some things. Take care."

I burned the paper with a quick flame before getting dressed and stepping out of the hotel. I stretched yawning looking about and noticing it was lunch time. I must have been in the Aether for a while.

"Look who's up," spoke a voice behind me.

I turned to see Mordan riding up on horseback. "Mordan. Hows the village?"

He slid off his horse and let it join mine. "Untouched and silent. It seems that the dragons or Hatos haven't traveled this far out yet. I'm sure they'll be here though in time. Possibly."

I nodded folding my arms thinking. "Gather your things. We're heading out. "

"My Lady, You haven't eaten yet." He looked at me with concern at my health.

"It's ok. I woke with anger this afternoon. No hunger for food yet. I'll eat later. For now we need to travel out towards the second mountain range. It will take a while to get too." I started for the hotel while he walked alongside of me. "Dra'tor has gone on ahead and forked. We'll meet back at the next place or so."

Mordan nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'll gather the things up."

After all was said and done we were on our way, trotting through the tall grass of the land and following nothing but deer trails that the people took. At night we would see the Endermen wondering about, destroying the land by taking pieces of the ground and then teleporting away. What they did with the land I wasn't sure of but it couldn't be good. I wondered if they were building another base underground but knew that was impossible. I would sit up at night watching them out of the corner of my eye wondering why Hatos would create these useless beings in the first place if they only took pieces of the land away.

It made no sense to me at all. Were they rejects of some bigger creation? Had his creations gone all wrong or were they supposed to be like this?

"Kind of weird, huh?"

"Yeah," I said turning to Mordan who had put on his jacket for the cool night. "It's not like Hatos to create worthless things."

Mordan looked about at the relatively clear night sky. "Hatos creates things that might have no use but he does have a plan for them. That's for sure."

I snorted shaking my head. "Look at them. They steal pieces of land and then leave to Notch knows where! Where are they placing those pieces of land at? Why? These things are everywhere, Mordan. Caves and in the ruined villages and towns. What is he using them for besides getting land?"

Mordan shook his head not knowing the answer. "Whatever it is it can't be good."

With that said we slept for the remainder of the night and got up early, riding off at the slivers of sunlight in the distance. It was like that at every town and village we came too. The townspeople would complain that their crops were being destroyed, animals being taken, houses being destroyed just by these Endermen. Pulling Mordan aside to eat something and have a break we tried to think of things and reasons why these beings were doing this.

"I'm out of ideas. It's not another stronghold, I know that much."

Mordan sipped his water after finishing his bread. "Sell, what if… No, never mind. It was a stupid idea."

I looked at him expectantly. "Tell me, Lord Mordan. You have my ears."

Mordan chuckled leaning on his knees with his forearms. "What if they're building something? I mean they are taking stone and ground, right?"

I nodded. "I thought that too but why? There's no point."

"There might be a point in Hatos's eyes," he said gesturing with a hand. "Like you said before, you never know with Hatos. He does things for a reason and creates things for a reason. It's all to serve his purpose. Making a place might serve him in some way."

The horses played and romped with one another out in the grass. They chased one another and raced a stretch before turning about sharply and racing back. Somehow, the idea of another island or what not didn't seem to fit Hatos. I shrugged. "We'll have to see, right?"

Mordan nodded. "Right."

We packed up and headed off to meet with Lord Dra'tor who was headed for the desert village. It had almost been another month. The war was getting ever so closer. It disturbed me a bit but I wasn't going to let it get a hold of me. We charged over the steep hillsides of the mountainous land before we noticed a campsite out of a steep cliff. A Nightmare resting with some oats at its feet told me that the rider hadn't been there for long.

"Dra'tor!" I called out hopping off my horse and walking up the hill towards the lighted cave.

A head poked out to look down on us. "He's not here right now but he said he'll be back soon!"

I stopped looking up at the stranger. "Who might you be?"

He stepped out on the ledge of grass. "I'm a shepherd of these hills. I take care of goats and sheep! I was just here to ask if your friend would do us villagers a favor?"

"What sort?" I asked perking up, wondering if it had to do with Hatos.

The shepherd waved us up to him. "I'll tell you when he returns. I don't care to tell it twice."

I nodded understanding. I looked about at the nice piece of area. "Where did Dra'tor go?"

"Down to the falls," the shepherd replied pointing out to our left towards the rocky mountain area. "He went to clean up and such."

I waved a thank you and mounted my horse once more turning him around. "Mordan, wait here while I fetch Dra'tor. Make sure he doesn't take the horses."

Mordan nodded as I urged the Nightmare into a quick trot across the rocky land towards the rough looking mountainside. It didn't take me much effort to find a trail to the falls and follow it to the deep brush that was too thick to go in by horseback. I dismounted and slapped my horse on its hind flank. "Return to Mordan!"

The horse reared slightly, charging away back towards the camp. I checked about me before ducking under a low hanging branch and following the path. Apparently the sheep and goats came here for water it seemed because of faint hoof tracks in the soft soil. Slipping through the trees I slowly made my way to the sound of rushing water. Stepping onto cool sand I found myself standing in a small secluded area with a high waterfall gushing out of a cave at the top of the mountain.

Stepping onto the beach I looked about trying to find Dra'tor but didn't see him anywhere. Had he gone back already?

"So you're back?"

I turned to see Dra'tor with his pants on and wet hair leaning against a tree. "Yeah. Mordan is with the horses talking to that man. How was your trip?"

"Fairly well in some places. The shepherd knows more than he lets on which makes me wonder." Dra'tor folded his arms and gave a hard look towards the waterfall. "What do you think of him?"

I sat down on a large rock thinking about the man. "He seems friendly enough. At least he keeps his animals fed and watered."

Dra'tor chuckled. "How do you know he has animals?"

"tracks led down to the water," I replied. "You must've met at least a goat or a sheep while bathing, correct?"

Dra'tor scratched his cheek. "Maybe."

I giggled crossing my legs waiting for the story. "Go on. Tell me."

He sighed. "The damn goat. I swear… Ok I was relaxing on the edge right? I turn up to stare at the falls and there's a damn goat staring down at me!"

I couldn't help myself and fell off the rock laughing my ass off. Dra'tor laughed a bit with me.

"It startled me so bad I cussed it out and it pulled my hair! It was trying to eat me!"

I continued laughing and I couldn't stop until after a while. I found myself staring up at the afternoon sky with lungs hurting. "I wish I had come earlier. I wanted to see the look on your face."

He scoffed putting a shirt on. "That's great. I'm glad my fright amuses you."

I smiled rolling over and getting to my feet. "Come on. Mordan is waiting for us. As is that man."

We headed back to the cave by foot which wasn't a long walk. As we were climbing back into the mouth of the cave I turned around to look at the landscape. It was a nice stretch of land, mountains and woods with fields for the livestock.

"I worked a long time cutting wood and making those fields for my animals."

"It's really nice," I said smiling. "we have sheep back at home on the farm. Our fields aren't big as those but big enough. You know?"

The shepherd smiled with a nod. "Sheep don't need a lot to be happy but I like to give them space. I think they're happy like that. As are the goats."

A spotted goat bounced across the rocks below. Her little baby following right along, enjoying the adventure. The shepherd smiled watching those head off to the side of the hill to graze. "That one is the most adventurous goat I've had."

"She looks to be a handful," I giggled turning to go inside.

I found a seat next to Mordan who looked content eating some cooked pork. The shepherd took a seat across from us and brought out leather that had ink drawings on it.

"This was a message from one of my friends. This was all I received from the deliverer on horseback."

I took the leather and read the note that had been quickly scrawled out with feather tip and ink. "The pirates returned. They've raided the inside out. Come quick!"

"Inside out?" Dra'tor asked. "What's that mean?"

"They drop from the sky in the middle of the town and spread towards the outside of town. When they drop inside all the people flee outwards. With the enemy outside also no one can escape." The shepherd said. "Even I can't help them. I've asked for others to aide in the raids and save them but no one ever does."

I looked up at Dra'tor who had the same look that I had. It was time for another round of saving people. I had never heard of pirates but I had heard stories about them. "We'll go. You won't have to send anyone else out there."

The shepherd looked at us with surprise. "But you're only travelers. How can you two stop such a large group?"

I was at the mouth of the cave before I could be stopped. "It's what we do when traveling. We're heading towards a war. We're recruiting as many as we can to help us. Don't worry though. We'll help those in need."

Dra'tor and Mordan followed me out where we climbed on our Nightmare's. The shepherd pointed in the direction to go in. "Out that way. It's a desert town. The only one around here for miles."

I nodded a thank you and turned my horse about, kicking him into a trot across the rocky land before hitting the flat lands of the long plains. Riding off in the dark with their Nightmare's fire lighting their way mobs targeted them at an instant but not a single one could touch them. The band of three slowed after their brief stop with the shepherd and found themselves staring at a desert village with pirates coming down upon it.

"Sell," gasped Mordan in shock. "The people don't know!"

"This is the first case that we've had that isn't Hatos related," Dra'tor said pulling his horse up from wanting to rest. "Sell?"

I didn't reply. I was still watching the pirates come down upon the sleeping village. "It'll probably do us no good but all we can do is try." I urged my Nightmare down the slope and kicked it to go faster, hitting the start of the desert in a wave of thrown up sand. I heard the others following after and the familiar noise of an arrow being pulled from a backpack. I turned behind me to see Mordan with his bow out and loaded.

"Just in case things get heated."

"You know they will if it involves Sell," chuckled Dra'tor as he pulled out his iron sword. "Don't get separated! Got that?"

We nodded seeing as Dra'tor had more fighting experience than us when it came to things like this. We plunged through the sand, the horse's hooves striking sandstone roads suddenly and galloped loudly past the houses and straight at the airships. "End this now, pirates! We're here to save these people from you!"

A mangled faced man with a beard looked down at us with confusion. "What in bloody cloudy eyed bats are these people doing? Don't they know anything?"

"Captain, the time schedule will be ruined if they keep this up," a young man said standing next to him. "What will we do?"

"Fire at them. Make them leave!" ordered the captain. "Fire! Fire away!"

"No!" I cried out with my stone sword out. "How dare you hurt these innocent lives! I won't allow you!"

"Sell, stop it! Something's not right!" Dra'tor cried out behind me. "Sell!"

The captains airship began to fly away as some of the other airships flew over dropping bombs down upon us. We galloped apart from one another, heading down streets between houses and running out of sandstone pathways to charge through cool sand once again. I whirled my horse about to check on Dra'tor and Mordan's positions. "Follow them! Mordan, Dra'tor, let's follow!"

They waved to me where they were and galloped with difficulty through the sand. I urged my own horse on and raced across the dunes keeping the tail end of the air ships in my sight. Raising my arm up, I had fire consume it and bent the fire into a orb where I threw it at the end ship, causing a massive explosion. The airship crew panicked, screaming out orders and crying for help. It wasn't really like me to attack from the back but in this situation I had no choice. I wasn't about to let them slip away unnoticed.

"Go faster, Entai! We must catch them!" I ordered the horse who was galloping across the sand as fast as he could.

The captain of the airship pirates looked back to see the flaming airship slowly dropping towards the desert. "What the hell…?"

His co-pilot stepped next to him. "They were attacked by the people on the ground, sir. The young woman threw fire by hand."

The captain snorted. "Impossible. No one can handle fire by hand."

A second explosion was heard and another airship out in the rear was struck by fire. The captain stared unable to do anything. He peered over the side of the airship basket to see the three horse riders chasing after them. "How is this possible? They are keeping up in these dunes with only those horses?"

"They aren't the same people!" cried the co-pilot pointing at them. "Captain! Look!"

The captain looked down but closer and saw that they weren't the same people. They were completely different. The horses were black with raging fire, snorting smoke and turning the sand to glass with each touch. The riders where covered in black with skeleton heads that had ragign fire for eyes. What in hell were they dealing with?

"All airships, fly faster!" bellowed the captain as he turned to the wheel. "Fly faster!"

I grinned hearing him bark those words. "Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you escape! Entai!"

The Nightmare horse cried out lengthening his strides and pushing himself faster. He knew and could feel; he could read all that I wanted. Defeat, giving up, and failure were not an option. We charged faster than Dra'tor and Mordan, passing under the rear of the airship pirates. The airship pirates were beginning to see that we were serious and started to fly faster.

That was fine. We would still follow them. I watched as the rear pirate ship fell to the ground behind us in a fiery explosion. I didn't want to show them too much about me. What I've done to them so far was plenty enough.

I noticed that Dra'tor and Mordan were starting to slow and wondered what was up. I decided to pause on the chase and pulled the reigns to the side, turning Entai towards them. We all slowed to a stop, our horses prancing and panting hard.

"Why did we stop for?" I asked looking at them questioningly. "We almost had them!"

Dra'tor shook his head. "Our horses won't last like that. Those ships are going faster and we would've tired out soon from running as hard as we were." He turned his head to Mordan who was slumped over from the heat. "I believe you'll chase those bastards to the end of the earth. If it's you, you can charge on. Mordan can't stand this heat so well. We'll catch up with you later."

I looked from him to Mordan, unsure if I should leave them or stay. Mordan raised his head with weak flames. "Go, Sell. We'll be fine. Go."

Entai snorted rearing his head in a cry. I finally nodded and turned him about, charging off after the pirates that had become distant specs. "I'll see you there! Wherever that may be!"

Mordan and Dra'tor stared after me. So much will power and determination. Almost too much at times. That was what they liked about her though. It's what pushed them to go on and not quit.

"What will she do to them?" Mordan asked in a wheezing voice.

Dra'tor shrugged. "They're humans. It's not like us to show ourselves to them but ever since Hatos came to our world nothings been the same."

Mordan nodded seeing what he was saying. Ever since Hatos came to the living with his odd creations life had been flipped upside down. "Will we catch up to her again?"

Dra'tor smiled as he shifted back to his human form. "You should know that answer yourself, Mordan. Have we never caught up to her before?"

Mordan let his head fall feeling silly. That had been a stupid question. "Reassurance is nice sometimes though. You know? Like closure or a nice blanket."

The horse turned with Dra'tors signals of the reigns. "Yeah. It is nice. So you're saying Sell is our blanket?"

Mordan followed after him, changing back to his human self and giggling. "Well, not exactly but…," he said trailing off and looking back at the hazy horizon. "She brings closure to those that need it most. She's always been there too. Wasn't Lady ananon like that?"

Dra'tor stared off into the distance while Mordan panted behind. "Yeah. Father and grandfather were always telling me about Lady Ananon. How her death had been a tragic one. It was a great loss but she was a very strong willed woman. She had a say in almost everything and would travel across the world every year to see how people were doing."

He reflected on the stories that he had been told countless times, comparing Sell to Lady Ananon. "Her powers were natural. Sell's are not. They were artificially created."

Mordan froze at hearing that. "W-what? Artificially created? What are you talking about?"

Dra'tor narrowed his eyes recalling the time in her father's old lab. How her father had recorded a message that her older self would see. How he had made predictions on her future. "Her power isn't natural. Her father made it, knowing that there would be evil from Hatos rising up once more. It's going to come to end at some point."

Mordan stared at his horse's mane lost in disbelief and shock. "How can this be? It won't come to an end for some time though. Right? She's going to get rid of Hatos before then, right? Right? Dra'tor…?"

Dra'tor didn't reply. He just trotted on in silence. That was one thing that he didn't want to think about. Her without Skeletal heir powers. Her standing there melting away in the Minecraftian world with the other humans.

How would she cope? Her seeing them going off to fight without her. Who would take her place? Surely not her younger sister. Or would she?

"I don't know, Mordan. I don't know."

The pirate captain checked behind them to see if they were being followed and saw no sight of the odd people on the horses. He smiled feeling better. "How much farther until home?"

"Ten more miles, sir." The co-pilot checked the chart. "We'll be home then. I'm surprised those people let up. They were chasing so seriously back then. I really thought they were going to get us."

The captain waved a hand. "As if! They weren't going to catch us! Those were just some fools that the Minecraftians sent to try and capture us. Yeah, we raid the other towns to make a living but seriously, it's for their own good and ours too."

The co-pilot nodded with a smile. "We made a pretty good haul, right captain?"

"It was decent enough," he replied stretching. "We'll be home before everyone awakes and deposit the loot on each door. They'll be so happy. We'll be the heroes once more."

"You're so cool, captain!" exclaimed the young co-pilot giving him a thumbs up. "Everyone will be so happy again! It's all because of your hard work!"

The captain smiled proudly, puffing his chest out. "You're too kind."

"As if I'd let you become that person," hissed a voice in the wind making the co-pilot and the captain jump in surprise. "You're just a fool that wants attention, bringing more hardships and problems for others! You're not helping anything! You're creating a disaster that will keep reoccurring!"

The captain grasped the edge of the basket looking pissed. "Who are you? Where are you? Show yourself!"

The wind whistled about them before the captain was blown down by a large gale. He fell down into the basket, taking cover before rising up again. His co-pilot stood there in a frozen state of fear. "What the hell is with you?"

His eyes looked at what he was seeing and saw a woman standing there in a black and white cloak with a scythe laying across her lap as she sat on the edge of the basket. His breath caught when the scythe went to his neck. Her eyes had turned a darker purple, her hair waving behind in a ponytail.

"Such a weak man. It's a shame that I'm the one that has to deal with you. Then again, I'm glad it's me. I can see a face of the Minecraftians that I don't normally see."

"What the hell are you?" the captain asked nervously. "How did you get up here? Where did you come from?"

"What I am is not ordinary. Where I come from is not of this world and how I got up here, I'll just say the wind helped me." I replied with a smile. "Don't tell me you're scared."

The captain and the co-pilot looked at one another before turning back to me. "You're just a kid! Why would we be scared of you? Get that scythe out of my face!"

I started laughing at them and fell back over the edge of the basket. "See you soon!"

They both gasped and peered over the edge, expecting to see her dead but saw no one. "What the hell…? Where did she go?"

The captain and the co-pilot straightened in shock. What had just happened? Had she been a mirage?

"It was just a dream, right?"

"Had to be."

"But we both saw it."

"Funny, huh?"

They stayed like that for a bit longer when the sun began to creep up on the horizon. The captain looked towards it with a bad feeling in his gut. "I think we just met our match."

The co-pilot looked at him oddly. "What do you mean? She was just a kid."

"She wasn't a kid," he said transfixed on the rising sun. "No kid would be that determined and that sure of herself. It's one of those things that can't be explained. I just have this bad feeling about seeing her."

The co-pilot looked out at the horizon not sure if his captain was making this up or wasn't feeling well. He had been spooked by her but was trying to keep a straight face. Was something going to happen to them?