24. Survive at all costs

Navis Kismet sighed, he had just received the worst possible news, Somta had been captured by Ovis and now the primarch would set his sights on the one who orchestrated his father's death. Kismet had spent the two years since betraying Atris raiding and keeping as close an eye as he could on Ovis so he could avoid his wrath. He had hoped that Somta would stay out of Ovis' reach indefinitely and thus spare him but apparently even with the powers of the dark god's worshippers he couldn't stop Ovis. Kismet sat with his first mate, Oshis Lammes, he was one of the few people he managed to turn to his cause amongst Atris' fleet and his insights were valuable.

"We're going to die" Oshis was depressingly pessimistic, he didn't fear Atris but he did fear Ovis

"I would suggest just staying out of Ovis' reach but I know he would find a way to get to us" Kismet looked at a map of the area he was sailing through, it was mostly independent islands and minor pirates pillaging them, he considered claiming power and building a massive fleet to face Ovis but that would take time and cost ships and he might not complete it before Ovis reached him. Kismet needed a ready made fleet to join with his so he could crush Ovis with overwhelming power, that was the only way he could see to beat him, but what pirate lord would do such a thing.

Kismet ran the question through his head over and over, he looked down at the map and found his answer, "Lusenkia!" the old pirate smiled

Lusenkia was the only daughter of a recently deceased pirate lord, he was quite powerful and his daughter had managed to keep most of that power intact, she was quite young so Kismet was sure he could convince her to help him.

"Are you sure about that?" Oshis asked, "I haven't heard much about her, is it wise to trust her?"

"We'll be fine, now tell the fleet to set course for her territory"

It took only a few days for Kismet's fleet to get to waters considered under Lusenkia's control and almost as soon as they passed in to them they were challenged by one of her fleets. It wasn't easy but Kismet managed to convince the fleet he only wanted to talk with their lady and he was escorted directly to her.

Lusenkia Ormest was the only daughter of the now deceased pirate lord, Korist Ormest, he had carved out his own territory from nothing and gathered quite a few minor pirates under him, he was a skilled commander and raider but his daughter was an enigma, no one outside her father's territory even knew she existed and what she did before her father's passing in a complete mystery.

Kismet and Oshis were the only ones allowed to land and meet the pirate lady, they were escorted through a heavily decorated palace that reminded Kismet of Atris' own with how much treasure was openly displayed, they were taken to the centre of the palace where the pirate lady sat on a great wooden throne with various vicious sea creatures carved on to it.

Lusenkia was young, probably no older than 23, and an absolute beauty, her skin was unblemished and seemed to glow and her golden eyes seemed to shine like actual gold. She had a cunning smile as she watched Kismet and Oshis march in to her throne room.

"What do we have here?" she said in an almost sing song voice

"I'm Navis Kismet and I have come to you with an opportunity Lady Lusenkia" Kismet bowed his head slightly

"Kismet? You're the one who killed Atris and pissed off his son, what can you offer me?"

"The glory of killing Ovis, he's coming for me and with the power of our fleets combined we can defeat him" Kismet considered everything he could and was willing to give her for her aid as he constructed his argument

"Why should I fight Ovis? I've heard the stories he's unbeatable" Lusenkia seemed unconvinced, "I would be better off not allying with you and staying out of his way or even better yet I could drag you to him myself and get a nice big reward"

"If you take me to Ovis and demand a reward he'll simply kill you and take me and you can't stay out of his way forever, Ovis will seek to conquer Krake but if we kill him here our way of life can continue" Kismet pulled on his years of experience, "And if you slay the great Ovis no one will stand in your way, all the squabbling pirates just beyond your borders will fold instantly, and I have the plans for Ovis' flying machines, the only other pirates with this are Evis"

What Lusenkia said next completely shocked Kismet, "I already have those, I forced my engineers to work for months after I heard Ovis had them, rickety things of wood that crash in the slightest breeze but they have proven useful in some circumstances" the pirate lady smiled at Kismet's shocked face, "Although I suppose Ovis' are far superior, I even thought about building a ship to launched them from and the day I talked to my shipwrights about it, what do I hear? Ovis already has one of his own, fully operational, the nerve"

Kismet collected himself, "Do you have a way to take down your planes?"

"A strong enough wind does it every time but I only really built them to say I had some but my father always said always have the solution to the problem that is you" Lusenkia considered it for a second, "Where is Ovis right now?"

"I'm not sure but last I heard he was close on my tail, I suspect no more than 2 weeks or so behind me now"

"I was planning a little trip but it should end before he gets here, so you're lucky I'm feeling generous" Lusenkia rose from her throne and approached Kismet, "You have a deal"

"You won't regret this" both had predatory smiles on their faces as they grasped each other's hands and shook

Lusenkia allowed Kismet and Oshis to return to their ship unescorted, as they were on the boat heading back Oshis turned to his captain, "Are you sure it's wise to promise her so much? If we give this technology to everyone then it will hold no advantage"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to give her anything" Kismet smiled as his plan came together in his mind

"What do you mean?"

"You heard her she'll be gone for a few day as her forces gather, it'll be easier than the first time" Oshis realised what Kismet was planning, "She's nothing but a spoiled brat, we'll find weakness in her command and exploit it, once the battle is over and Ovis is dead she'll be weakened and we'll take everything she inherited"

"Hopefully it'll work out better this time"

As Kismet sped towards his ships Lusenkia stood from her throne and made her way to her personal quarters with her second close behind her, Kesia Ulson, a dutiful woman she had known for years.

"Are you sure it's wise to ally with a known traitor" Kesia didn't like being out of the loop, "And why did you say you were going on a trip? This is the worst time to leave your forces, with that snake among us"

"I'm going to see my husband" the two entered Lusenkia's private quarters and the pirate lady headed straight for her wardrobe

"You're not married?" Kesia was confused as she watched her commander try to pick an outfit

"Not yet but I've picked a man and he's even heading straight here as fast as he can" the pirate lady was clearly more interest in picking an outfit than explaining a plan she saw as obvious, "Should I wear something loose or tight, what do you think Ovis will like?"

"THAT GODDAMN COWARD!" Ovis roared as he stuck a knife in to the map that lay in front of him, "He couldn't face my father in open combat and he pulls this cowardly move, I don't know what my father saw in him"

"He is a tactical genius, this move isn't entirely unexpected but this should have been the last thing he did" one of Ovis' officers stroked their beard as they considered the problem, their latest intel had told them that Kismet had allied with Lusenkia and thus allowed the traitor to outnumber Ovis 6 ships to 1 if what they knew about Lusenkia's strength was true, "We'll need to call for reinforcements before we can engage them but then they can concentrate their forces and hunt us down before your mother and brother can reach us"

"We could strike before they concentrate but that would require a deep strike in to Lusenkia's territory" another officer offered another course of action, "We'll have to fight through all her defences and our ships and crews will be exhausted by the time we reach Kismet"

"This intel is a few days old their forces should be partially gathered that plan is little better than waiting for them to completely gather"

Ovis looked at the map and tried to picture how the battle would go if he struck first and if he waited and each time it ended with the large majority of his ships sunk, in the face of such overwhelming numbers there was little smart tactics could do and Ovis knew that was Kismet's plan.

"We have no choice we'll retreat for now and reinforce, their numbers are too great"

Ovis and his officers seemed disappointed at the decision but it was truly the only course of action, they all sighed and prepared to tell the fleet to pull back when someone knocked on the door. They opened it and a messenger ran in, he saluted and delivered his news.

"Sir our observers have spotted a small group of armed yachts heading for us?"

Everyone, including Ovis, was confused by this turn, armed yachts were mostly recreational boats, they could go on the high seas but they were mostly relegated to sailing close to the coast and were only armed to stop people from boarding them and certainly not to go against actual warships. Ovis marched on to the deck of his ship with his officers right behind him, as he got out there, he could see the deck crew had thrown a ladder down to allow whoever had arrived to climb up.

The first one up was beautiful woman, clearly dressed to impress, what she was wearing was tight and showed of quite a bit of skin. As soon as she stepped on to the deck her eyes locked on to Ovis, she ran right up to him and jumped in to his arms, she was quite short but in the arms of a giant who was twice her height she looked almost like a child.

"And who are you?" Ovis didn't seem to be phased by the woman jumping at him

"I'm Lusenkia, I thought we should meet before we got married" She smiled as she looked Ovis over

Ovis' officers were thoroughly confused that someone who was supposed to be their enemy had appeared before them with only a few lightly armed yachts, Ovis on the other hand seemed to put together what she was planning as soon as Lusenkia opened her mouth.

"And why would I marry you?" Ovis put her down on the deck

"I have Kismet and he thinks I'm just a dumb little girl who'll do anything for the glory of killing you and some drawings, he won't even see it coming"

"And why don't I just kill you, disrupt your command and take Kismet for myself?"

Lusenkia laughed, "Do you also think I'm a dumb little girl? If I don't get back soon then I have someone waiting to kill Kismet, that isn't what you want at least not yet"

Ovis smiled, he was impressed by how she so easily covered every deviation from her plan, "Then what's this talk of marriage, can't you just hand Kismet over to me, no need for a formal ceremony"

"I told you I'm not stupid and neither is any other pirate on Krake, we all know you're on the path to dominate this world, you'll be the pirate king and I'll be your queen" Ovis saw a reflection of his own greed and lust for power on her face, "This world will be yours and, by extension, mine"

Ovis burst out laughing, Lusenkia was him if he was a mortal and a woman, most woman had been a distraction for him between battle and raiding but she seemed different, "I guess I have little choice but to accept, deliver Kismet to me and together we'll conquer this world"

Lusenkia jumped right back in to the primarch's arms, "Now there is only one more question, do we make it quick or should we put on a nice show?"

Kismet watched as all the ships Lusenkia controlled assembled, hundreds of ships that owed her allegiance, he smiled at the terrifying display of power that even one of the weaker pirate lords could wield. From talking to the senior officers under Lusenkia, Kismet and Oshis had found a gaping weakness, many of the more experienced pirates weren't happy with Lusenkia, they felt she was too young and hadn't done anything to prove herself, they would prefer to be led by a pirate with a greater reputation and more experience.

"Everything is ready, I talked to them all and they seem to be onboard" Oshis walked up to his captain as Kismet was looking down at the deck of his battleship, the Darkest blade

"And Ovis?"

"Lastest intel says he's pushing through Lusenkia's territory, just like you though he would do"

"Ovis is a genius there is no doubt about that but he can't back down from a fight" Kismet was overjoyed that everything was going to plan for once, "Lusenkia?"

"Just returned from her trip a few hours ago, that spoiled brat won't see it coming" Oshis laughed, "she's convened her officers to discuss the coming battle"

Lusenkia and her admirals gathered in her personal quarters, away from any prying eyes, there were only 4 of them but their skill and experienced made each as valuable as 2 that served anyone else.

"So what did Kismet offer you all?" Lusenkia knew Kismet would try to turn her admirals against her and she had told them to play along with it

"He only offered to become our lord" Salia Dormet, an admiral that had loyally served Lusenkia's father for years, was clearly unimpressed by Kismet's attempts to sway her, "He thinks you're some spoiled princess who spent all her time on land"

"Better he thinks that than see me as an actual threat, Kismet is an experienced pirate who could pose a threat if he actually took me seriously" Lunsenkia dressed for battle, "You all understand the plan?"

"Are you sure about Ovis?" Etris Korson showed concerns about his lady's plan, his predecessor had been less than enthusiastic about Lusenkia after her father's death so she had raised him after his presecessor's "untimely" death, "The stories don't paint a good picture, he completely dominates everything he gets his hands on, his mother is still alive but he's practically deposed her already and he'll do the same thing to you"

"I know what kind of man Ovis is and he might do exactly what you say but he's exactly the kind of man I can't resist so I'll be happy no matter what he does" her other admirals tried to put in their thoughts but she quieted them with a wave of her hand, "I want to hurry up and get this over with, I have a wedding to plan!"

Kismet looked out of binoculars as Ovis' fleet became visible on the horizon, he couldn't tell how many ships the primarch had but it was clearly less than him and Lusenkia. He had discussed the battle plan with her before setting sail, she would hold a large bulk of her fleet back while his fleet and a contingent of her own ships drew Ovis to battle and then her ships would envelop Ovis and destroy him in the crossfire, as long as Kismet could last long enough in battle with Ovis then victory was assured.

Kismet ordered his ships to hold course as he watched Ovis pull his ships closer and closer, he wanted to get the primarch as close as he could before he fired, he held his ships back until you could almost see the men on the decks and then his ships opened fire. The sea shook with the thunderous opening to the battle as Kismet watched his shells fall on many of Ovis' ship, no damage was visible and he had completely missed the Krake's tooth but it surely shook the crews, a signal was sent to Lusenkia to start the encirclement as Ovis responded to Kismet's volley in kind. The two lines of ships faced each other and exchanged fire as their smaller escorts battled in the water between, torpedoes were exchanged and tore chunks out of the hulls on each side but Kismet was standing firm and it was only a matter of time before Lusenkia finished surrounding Ovis and sealing his fate.

"I never thought defeating Ovis would be this easy" Kismet chuckled as he watched one of Ovis' ships catch fire a midship

"Don't count him out yet, he's Atris' son, he has a trick up his sleeve" Oshis was still on guard against any trick the primarch could pull, he was expecting one and the more it seemed like there wasn't one the less relaxed he became

"Ships on the horizon, all directions!" one of the spotters shouted down to the bridge

They were specks but Kismet could see hundreds of ships heading for them from all directions, Lusenkia had completed her encirclement and was now closing her grip, there was no escape now.

"I want to gloat, hail me Ovis now" Kismet was bouncing like a child as he anticipated Ovis' death

"What do you want Kismet? Want to beg for mercy?" much to the surprise of Kismet, Ovis didn't sound at all troubled about the ships surrounding him, "Tie your hair into little girl tails and in your prettiest voice say you're sorry and I might not kill you right away"

"Funny I wanted to hear you say that since you're the one surrounded and about to be crushed" Kismet's excitement was quickly becoming frustration at Ovis laissez faire attitude

"Oh I'm not worried about that, I made something special just for this battle" Ovis let out an obviously fake yawn, "In fact I'll win this battle without any of my ships firing another shell"

True to his word all of Ovis' ships stopped firing and simply sat there as Kismet's ship pummelled them, Kismet ground his teeth as he watched the primarch's fleet sit there as if he wasn't a threat worth acknowledging, he almost ordered his ships to ram Ovis out of sheer rage but he held off and waited for Lusenkia to get close enough. Over the next few minutes Kismet would grow increasingly enraged as Ovis simply refused to fight back even as fires raged on many of his ships and some were sinking.

"FIGHT ME YOU COWARD YOU WON'T WIN THIS WITHOUT SHOOTING BACK!" Kismet was almost pulling out his own hair

"I will because of what I made" Ovis sounded as calm as ever

"WHAT DID YOU MAKE, THERE IS NO WAY YOU'RE THAT SKILLED, NO, NOT EVEN YOU COULD DO SUCH A THING! WHAT DID YOU MAKE THAT WOULD LET YOU BEAT ME WITHOUT FIGHTING!"

It took Ovis almost a full minute to reply, "An ally" Kismet could hear his smirk, "I made an ally"

Kismet's face dropped as he instantly understood what was happening but before he could give an order shells landed on his ship from every angle, as he looked on in frozen horror a woman's voice came through the speakers.

"Sorry Kismet but you've seen Ovis how could I resist such a man" Lusenkia's mocking tone was obvious, "You said it yourself he's going to conquer Krake, what woman wouldn't want a man like that for herself, if it's any consolation he won't kill you"

It was an absolute massacre and Ovis' ships didn't even resume firing, they just watched as Lusenkia's ships tore Kismet's fleet apart. The bridge was in utter panic as officers tried to figure out how they could retreat but Kismet just sat in the captain's chair unresponsive, he had gone from elated to utterly despondent in almost an instant, his spirits were utterly crushed and he believed they were as low as they would go until he saw the giant form of Ovis climb on to his deck. He watched the primarch easily cut through the scrambling crewmen on deck and after barely a minute the door to the bridge was ripped from its hinges. The bridge officers pulled out their pistols to fight but in almost an instant their heads and torsos all exploded in to bone splinters and gore, Kismet just sat among the carnage, wishing it was all just a bad dream.

Ovis casually approached the man who killed his father, "Get up no point trying to kill yourself"

"If you're not going to kill me then what are you going to do to me?" Kismet stood and squared up to the primarch as best he could

"You'll find out soon enough, now come on" Ovis pushed him to the door and Kismet followed

A boat picked the two up and took them to the Krake's tooth, as Kismet approached he could see the skeletal and blister ridden bodies of 5 of his co-conspirators hanging off the side of the ship like some sick trophies. Kismet was taken aboard the ship but he wasn't escorted below to the brig, instead he was chained to the bow of the ship, his arms painfully pulled behind him as the leading edge of the Krake's tooth cut in to his spine. Up close Kismet could see that while his fellow traitors looked dead they were still alive, one of the closest one to him, Somta, was crying and babbling incoherently about souls and curses and gods.

Ovis set sail for home for the first time in 2 years, he had not seen his family since he set out to hunt the traitors and now that they were all captured he could finally return, Lusenkia insisted on accompanying him so she could meet his family. It took him 4 weeks to get back home, word of what had happened spreading around the world quickly and so when the Krake's tooth finally docked there was a crowd of people waiting for the primarch. He didn't even make it down the ramp before his brother ran to meet him, elated at the sight of the traitors hanging from his ship.

"You're finally back, took you long enough"

Ovis chuckled as he walked down the ramp with his little brother, "Somta was quite elusive, it took me a while to find him"

"Was it true he was hiding out among heretics?"

"Yes, it was disgusting, I'll tell you about it later"

His mother stood at the base of the ramp, her wounds were healed but she was forced to use a cane from now on, "What took you so long? I thought you were supposed to be the greatest commander on Krake"

"Some of them went to ground, Kammes had got himself caught by some pirate hunters and was about to be hung when I found him and Thalson literally sailed to the other side of Krake"

"It's fine as long as you got them all" Asla smiled as she watched the traitors hanging from the ship until something else caught her eye, "And who's that?"

Ovis could hear Lusenkia descending the ramp just behind him, answering the question before he got the chance, "Lusenkia Ormest or should I take your name, we can decide later, I'm going to be Ovis' wife" she introduced herself, "And you are Asla the Sheeran, I heard a lot about you, I expected you to be taller"

Asla ignored the woman and looked up at her son, "And here I thought you would never find a woman willing to put up with you, you really are your father's son" she turned around and walked through the crowd, "It really doesn't matter we have more important things to discuss, come on"

The two brothers followed their mother back to their home and in to the main meeting room, the 9 loyal admirals were already seated when they entered, they took their seats and the meeting began.

"So you've got all of them?" Strass asked

"Yes, now we just need to decide what to do with them"

"A public hanging then we can hang their corpses from our ships until they rot in to the sea" Karak suggested

"Bury them alive" Pollar gave his thought

"Leave them chained to your ship until they die naturally" Jalles smirked as he gave his suggestion

Each of the admirals gave a different and cruel way to punish the traitors and kept coming up with more until Asla silenced them, she had been strangely quiet during the meeting.

"Ovis is the one who captured them so he should decide how they are punished but there is something more pressing I need to announce" Asla paused for a second, thinking about what she wanted to say, "I'm retiring, from now on you'll all follow Ovis"

There was a shocked silence followed by a torrent of disagreement but none were louder than from Ovis himself.

"You're still as fit as ever, you don't need to do this, you can stil…"

Asla silenced her son, "This isn't about my wound or the mutiny, your father and I talked about this before you were promoted"

The pirate lady and her husband sat in their shared bedroom, each dressing for the day, one of the few times they were completely alone together, they knew that Ovis would be arriving that day and that he would be promoted but neither of them had brought up the problems it could cause.

"How long are we going to stand in his way?" Atris finally acknowledged the elephant in the room

"He wouldn't dare try to overthrow us, we raised him too well" Asla sighed, "But if we end up like Lusow then we have 40-50 more years left, he'll have to wait that long"

"5 years" Atris simply said

"What?"

"5 years and I'm retiring, Ovis surpassed me years ago and I can't deny him his rightful prize forever" Atris stood up and walked towards the door, "Although I plan to take more in these next 5 than I ever did in the past 30"

"So what are you going to do after you retire?"

"Maybe I'll go back home, I haven't seen my family since I left, you?"

"Lounge on the beach everyday and I've always wanted to start painting"

"Well I'll be sure to be there to tell you how terrible they are"

Asla chuckled slightly as she pushed past Atris and left the room.

"Your father and I both wanted this for you, you'll dominate this world, better now than later" Asla turned to her other son, "And Sotris make sure to keep him aware of the bigger picture, his view narrows too easily, I had hoped that he would find a woman to counter that but apparently your brother can only love someone who is exactly the same as him "

"So what are you going to do now?" Sotris asked

"Since I've gotten rid of all my critics I'll start painting" Asla stood up and simply left the room without another word

All the admirals were silent for a second before turning to Ovis, who stood staring at the door for a few extra seconds before he collected himself, he left the spot that was once Lusow's and moved to where his father once sat.

"I have a plan for what punishment to give the traitors" Ovis sat at the head of the meeting, he controlled everything his parents built but he knew it wasn't the end of his climb up, even as he explained to the admirals his plans for the traitors he was already putting plans together for his conquest of Krake and beyond.

Ovis took the Krake's tooth far out to sea, somewhere that ships rarely journeyed, and in the middle of the ocean was a small island, tiny really, only able to fit a handful of people on it, it should really be called a sandbank but the top of it stuck out even at hightide. The traitors were unchained from the ship and holes were dug for each of them in a circle, chaining their arms and legs tight, they were each put in to a hole and buried up to their neck, they were shaded by fruit trees and rain was a regular occurrence so starvation or dehydration could be avoided.

"I found this island just for you" Ovis towered over the traitors, many of them were delirious or unresponsive from their years of imprisonment

"Why don't you just kill us?" Kismet asked as he tried, and failed, to free himself from the sand

"Krake is a world of survival and infinite possibilities as long as you live then you can always make your dreams a reality" Ovis turned away from the traitors, "So whatever you dream is survive and make it come true, if you want to die by my hand so badly survive and get off this island, fight me like a man and I'll kill you like one, die here or don't, I've got my revenge"

Ovis left the island, the traitors would never leave that island, no one knows how long they survived before they died but some of them had dug themselves from the sand and were even in the process of building a raft. They had not survived and whatever dreams they had would forever go unfulfilled.

Next time: Birth of an empire