Ray, as he stared at the dimming land in the distance, barely heard anything the captain was saying. He didn't notice how he removed his neat and tidy blue coat to reveal expensive silks and fine jewelry that far better matched the golden tooth than anything else could. He didn't pay attention as the man mocked him and reminded him how easy it was to pull him along by his nose.

"I can't imagine what she must have told you," he said with a smirk, rocking back and forth on his heels, "but one thing is for certain. You're never going to see this country ever again. If you're lucky, you might find yourself amongst your own kind for a change, but it'll be deep underground I reckon, tugging and breaking rocks for the rest of your life. Of course, I don't doubt there will be another market open for you as well. There's plenty of people that would love to keep a Lyalltine as a pet. That wouldn't be too different from what you were here, so I'm sure you'll be right dandy if someone buys you for that. Red fur goes well with most nobles, aye?"

"A pet," Ray replied blankly, still staring across the waters, his teeth grinding gently as he considered his predicament, but he was mostly out of body. The things this man was saying was far, far away as he tried to get ahold of himself.

"That's right," he answered, smirking. "I did say you had that nice hair when I first saw you, but you probably don't remember me, do you? I bet old Tom was the one who did it, made sure you didn't come back. I could have saved you a bit of time there. I could have taken you away before all this nasty business in Ardougne. I reckon you should be thanking me for taking you off her hands when I did."

"Thanking you?" He answered, still far away.

"That's right," he answered. "I was thinking of refusing when she first asked me. I remember it. She says to me, 'I don't want him here anymore. He's too dangerous. What kind of man is that? I can't have him around the house no more, or he might hurt someone'. That's what she said. She then said she was going to destroy you if I wouldn't take you. Said something about you butchering a boy and that she doesn't want that in her house."

"She encouraged me to kill people. She wanted me to do those sorts of things. I never would have-"

"That's just what she said," he answered with a sharp-toothed grin. "I told her myself that you weren't the sort of creature that she needed to be encouraging. I said I would take you then, dangerous or no, and that if she was going to keep you, she better be saving you for me. I know your kind, Ray. I know that you'll be fighting to the day you die. No skin off my nose if she don't see it."

"I'm not that kind of person," he answered quickly. "I did terrible things, but things I regret. I never would have-"

"Between you and me," he answered, "I know that, and she knows that, but you know that she doesn't want to clean up her mess. I saw you playing with those kidders. I know what kind of person you are, Ray. I know that you're a moth that got caught by the flame, and between you and me I was waiting for an opportunity to get at you. Not many tame wolfies. You'll sell for a high price."

Ray growled and lunged at him, trying to reach for his greasy neck or else his long, braided hair that had been tucked under his captain's hat, but he simply stepped back and grinned at him as he saw Ray hesitate, not willing to get too close to the rails.

"Smart boy, smart boy," the man teased. "You're all shaken up by the open sea. Nothing for the likes of me to worry about. Nowhere to go as long as you're here so why would you want to fight me over this? Count your chickens, boy. It's better off this way."

He snapped his fingers and a couple of hulking men, obviously hired just for this sort of thing, stepped forward and seized Ray's arms. Ray growled and tried to slash at them with his sword, but the other had his arm the moment the blade was out, and it wasn't long before the two, practically faceless lumps of flesh and muscle, had him held between them.

The man laughed and walked up to him, his tooth gleaming in the sun and reflecting off of Ray's chest as he reached to take the blade from his hand. He held tight to it at first, but after a moment his grip relaxed, and he let him take it. The slaver grinned as he looked it over and replied, "She didn't spare any expenses with this. These red blades are rare, my boy, if you didn't know. I can't imagine why she wouldn't want it, but then again it feels heavy. I can practically feel your sins crawling on it. I wouldn't doubt if it were a cursed blade now. There's only one place for it."

He turned and walked back towards the rails, and Ray watched in horror, teeth chattering as he shook his head. He didn't want to give the blade up.

"You'll be better off without it," he jeered, holding the blade over the side, listening to Ray chatter desperately. He felt a sense of amusement at the man, knowing that he couldn't even manage a real word through those chattering teeth, it all sounding like a mixture of old and new language. Realization dawned on him for a moment as he spun about and pointed the blade, yelling, "Cover his mouth! That bitch didn't tell me he was a spellcaster."

One of the lumps of flesh placed his meaty paw over Ray's maw, but the moment he did a burst of flame burst from his mouth, now opened wide. He loathed the taste of sweat and dust that he doubted the man had washed off since before this voyage, whenever that had been.

Ray was somewhat amazed by the way the fire that burst from his mouth didn't merely stop at the man's hand but continued onward to eat at the rich, oily wood that seemed to love the fire as much as he did. The man's hand itself melted away to bone much like that young woman that Ray had met what felt like ages ago when Telago had shown him the power a mage can hold.

He had little time to admire the grisly sight, however, as the moment the flame had melted away the man's arm he had pulled away and fell in agony, shrieking, sweat beading his lumpy face. Ray's instincts kicked in, and he spun around, using the other's man's grip on him as an anchor to allow him to swing up and kick him solidly in the face. The man staggered back, still keeping his hold on him and dragging him back with him.

The captain of the ship, the one the children called Stevo, frowned viciously and screamed at his crew who had stopped what they were doing and were merely watching now, "You idiots! The ship is burning!" He swept through the flames before they grew too hot and swept the blade around elegantly, seeking to cleave into Ray as the big man fell and Ray fell atop him. Still, the man did not relinquish his grip on Ray, and so he rolled to the side the moment he sensed the blade aimed at his back, and it chopped down to embed itself in the big lummox's wrist.

The lumpy creature howled in pain, and finally, that killer grip released Ray. Ray felt a moment of panic as the blade was tugged from the man's wrist like from a tree trunk, turning to strike at him. Blood, however, gushed up from that opened wound and blinded the man like a fountain. At the scent of blood, Ray lost all sense of presence and sprang at him, narrowly missing hitting that blade, changing to a wolf and sending him flying on silent paws. He carried the pirate captain back into the fire.

The man howled in terror, but Ray's only thought was to seize the blade from his hand, crushing fingers with bluntly sharp teeth and wrenching it free.

With each paw step, the ship seemed to ignite beneath him until he was upon the smaller boat that brought him here. He sheathed his sword and hastily tried to solve the riddle of how to get the boat afloat again, gears and pulleys grinding but doing nothing, the whole thing locked down.

He didn't have many fire runes with him, but he had enough, and so he placed his hands on the gears and used superheat. The spell protected his hands, but not so much the metal beneath his palms as the complicated mechanism melted away. The whole thing shrieked and groaned until the entire top of the enclosed vessel tore apart from the strain of holding it up without the inner workings, and the whole thing fell down, down, down to the waiting sea below.

He was stunned for a moment, but the twanging sound of crossbows going off reminded him of what was happening, metal bolts digging into the wood around him. He turned toward the ship, and with the last of his runes, he breathed another cone of fire that bit into the hull. It wasn't enough to obliterate the ship, but it was enough to finish it if left uncared for, and he doubted they would notice it until it was too late.

The flame was also enough to send him back toward Ardougne, the ship skipping over the waves the moment the fume of fire was exhaled.

Ray turned to face Ardougne and realized that it wasn't so far as he thought, knowing that his poor vision would put him close enough to at least get that far if he could see it. He stood and stared at the far shore with wide, hopeful eyes, but he could hear a low whistling overhead. Everything stood still for a moment before the cannonball hit, and the world was filled with bright red noise.

The loudest noise was the shards of wood that had exploded from the wreckage in front of him, shattering and sending splinters into him like shrapnel.